\    - 


EDWARD  LIVINGSTON  YOUMANS 


Interpreter  of  Science  for  tbe  people 


A   SKETCH  OF  HIS  LIFE 

WITH   SELECTIONS   FROM   HIS  PUBLISHED  WRITINGS 

AND   EXTRACTS   FROM   HIS  CORRESPONDENCE 

WITH   SPENCER,    HUXLEY,   TYNDALL 

AND   OTHERS 


BY 

JOHN    FISKE 


NEW    YORK 
D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY 

1894 


COPYRIGHT,  1894, 
BY  D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY. 


ELECTROTYPED  AND  PRINTED 
AT  THE  APPLETON  PRESS,  U.  S.  A. 


F5 


TO 

HERBERT   SPENCER. 

My  dear  Spencer  : 

It  was  thirty  years  ago  this  month  that  our  personal  ac- 
quaintance began,  in  so  far  as  the  exchange  of  letters  could 
make  such  a  beginning.  It  was  at  the  time  of  my  first  visit 
to  Youmans,  in  this  very  street  and  within  a  stone's  throw  from 
where  I  now  sit  writing ;  and  as  the  last  of  this  memorial 
volume  goes  hence  to  the  press,  recollections  of  days  that  can 
never  come  again  crowd  thickly  upon  me.  Our  friend  ex- 
pressed a  wish  that,  if  his  biography  were  to  be  written,  I 
should  be  the  one  to  do  it ;  no  sign  from  him  is  needed  to  assure 
me  that  he  would  have  been  glad  to  have  me  dedicate  it  to  you. 
Pray  accept  the  book,  my  dear  Spencer,  with  all  its  imperfec- 
tions, in  token  of  the  long  friendship  we  have  shared  with  each 
other  and  with  him  who  has  gone  from  us ;  and  believe  me, 
as  always, 

Faithfully  yours, 

JOHN  FlSKE. 

Irving  Place,  New  York,  February  12,  1894.. 


M788183 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I. — BIRTH  AND  CHILDHOOD i 

.    II. — YOUTH  AND  EDUCATION 19 

III. — YEARS  OF  BLINDNESS 35 

IV. — YEARS  OF  BLINDNESS  (continued). — THE  CLASS-BOOK  OF 

CHEMISTRY 56 

V. — THE  SCIENTIFIC  LECTURER 71 

VI. — HOUSEHOLD  SCIENCE 92 

VII. — FIRST  ACQUAINTANCE  WITH  HERBERT  SPENCER         .        .  102 
VIII. — MARRIAGE  AND  FIRST  VISIT  TO  ENGLAND         .        .        .  116 

IX.— THE  APOSTLE  OF  EVOLUTION 141 

X. — SECOND  AND  THIRD  VISITS  TO  ENGLAND    .        .        .        .185 

XI. — POPULAR  EDUCATION,  AND  OTHER  MATTERS      .        .        .221 
XII. — APPLETONS'  JOURNAL    ........  255 

XIII. — THE  INTERNATIONAL  SCIENTIFIC  SERIES     ....  266 

XIV. — THE  POPULAR  SCIENCE  MONTHLY 295 

XV. — VARIOUS  AFFAIRS 317 

XVI. — WINTER  IN  THE  RIVIERA 345 

XVI L— LAST  YEARS   .        .        .        .    * 366 

SELECT  WRITINGS. 

I. — MENTAL  DISCIPLINE  IN  EDUCATION 399 

II. — ON  THE  SCIENTIFIC  STUDY  OF  HUMAN  NATURE        .        .  451 

III. — WHAT  WE  MEAN  BY  SCIENCE 486 

IV. — THE  RELIGIOUS  WORK  OF  SCIENCE 491 

.    V. — HERBERT  SPENCER  AND  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  EVOLUTION     .  502 


vi  Contents. 


PAGE 


r/\tjc, 

VI.— THE  CHARGES  AGAINST  THE  POPULAR  SCIENCE  MONTHLY  .552 
VII.— CONCERNING  THE  SUPPRESSED  BOOK 562 

APPENDIX  A.    Ancestry 585 

B.     List  of  Writings 590 

INDEX      ..,„,, 593 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


FACING 
PAGE 


Portrait  at  the  age  of  sixty Frontispiece 

Portrait  at  the  age  of  thirty 56 

Facsimile  of  handwriting 91 


MEMOIR   OF 
EDWARD    LIVINGSTON    YOUMANS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

BIRTH  AND   CHILDHOOD. 

1821-1831.     Age  I-IO. 

FORTY  years  ago  scientific  education  had  made  but 
little  progress  in  the  United  States.  There  is  certainly 
room  enough  for  improvement  to-day  ;  but  to  those  of 
us  who  still  remember  vividly  the  decade  that  went 
before  the  civil  war,  the  contrast  between  now  and 
then  is  very  striking.  In  the  first  place,  there  are  the 
wonderful  strides  that  have  been  made  in  discovery. 
A  retrospect  of  forty  years  takes  us  back  to  the  days 
before  The  Origin  of  Species  was  published,  the  days 
when  the  triumphs  of  spectrum  analysis  were  still 
hidden  in  futurity,  when  teachers  of  physics  looked 
askance  at  the  "  correlation  of  forces,"  and  students 
of  medicine  went  through  their  whole  "  curriculum  " 
in  blissful  ignorance  of  bacteria.  So  with  applied 
science.  Those  were  the  days  of  wooden  war-ships, 
while  railroad  and  telegraph  were  in  their  callow  in- 
fancy, and  antiseptic  surgery  had  never  been  heard  of. 
As  for  getting  motive  power  out  of  electricity  so  as  to 
move  heavy  cars  or  wagons,  I  'heard  it  conclusively 
proved  in  1862,  by  our  Professor  of  Physics  at  Har- 
vard, that  no  such  thing  could  ever  be  done. 


2  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

This  swift  advance  in  scientific  discovery  has  be- 
come a  commonplace  fact ;  there  are  few  cultivated 
people  who  have  not  felt  it  and  remarked  upon  it. 
But  among  the  American  people,  in  the  days  before 
the  war,  scientific  education  was  far  from  following  so 
briskly  in  the  wake  of  discovery  as  it  does  to-day. 
Information  was  more  slowly  diffused,  and  new  ideas 
were  received  with  more  distrust.  People's  minds 
were  less  flexible  and  less  cosmopolitan.  A  country 
clergyman  in  Connecticut  once  said  to  me,  in  1857, 
"  There  is  a  great  intellectual  movement  going  on  in 
Europe  of  which  scarcely  anything  is  known  or  even 
suspected  in  this  country."  There  was  much  truth  in 
this  remark.  What  the  worthy  minister  had  chiefly 
in  mind  (for  he  used  to  read  German  books)  was  the 
ludicrous  ignorance  of  biblical  criticism  displayed  in 
American  theological  magazines  and  journals ;  but 
what  he  said  was  true  of  many  departments  of  study. 
Lyell's  great  work  on  geology  was  published  in  1830; 
a  quarter  of  a  century  later  I  do  not  believe  there 
were  five  men  in  our  town  who  had  ever  heard  of 
"  uniformitarianism  "  ;  it  was  only  a  very  bold  spirit 
that  ventured  to  allude  to  the  earth  as  more  than  six 
thousand  years  old.  Science  in  general  was  regarded 
as  a  miscellaneous  collection  of  facts  and  rules,  some 
useful,  some  curious  or  even  pretty ;  as  for  looking 
upon  it  as  a  vast  coherent  body  of  truths  concerning 
the  universe  and  its  interdependent  provinces,  few 
minds,  indeed,  had  grappled  with  such  a  staggering 
conception.  The  sciences  were  studied  in  fragments, 
and  how  crude  were  the  methods  is  well  shown  by  the 
fact  that  Harvard  students  were  set  to  learn  physics 
and  chemistry  by  reading  in  books  about  magnets  and 
alkalis. 


Birth  and  Childhood.  3 

Few  things  at  that  time  were  more  generally  needed 
in  America  than  the  kind  of  stimulus  that  no  one  can 
impart  but  a  public  teacher  enthusiastic  and  eloquent, 
broad  and  tolerant,  trained  in  the  methods  of  modern 
science,  and  brimful  of  its  blithe  and  aggressive  but 
self-restrained  and  sober  spirit.  Such  teachers  are 
not  too  common  at  any  time.  To  produce  one  re- 
quires a  rare  combination  of  qualities.  One  may  meet 
with  a  hundred  men  learned  in  science,  a  thousand 
men  who  can  skim  over  its  surface  in  entertaining  talk, 
sooner  than  one  will  find  this  rare  combination.  In 
our  days  it  has  been  realized  in  no  one  so  completely 
as  in  the  man  to  whose  memory  it  is  the  purpose  of 
this  volume  to  pay  a  brief  word  of  tribute.  It  is  but 
a  little  while  since  that  noble  face  was  here  among  us, 
and  the  tones  of  that  kindly  voice  were  fraught  with 
good  cheer  for  us.  No  one  who  knew  Edward  Liv- 
ingston Youmans  is  likely  ever  to  forget  him.  But 
for  those  who  knew  the  man  it  will  not  be  superfluous 
to  recount  the  main  incidents  of  his  life  and  work. 
For  those  who  knew  him  not  it  is  desirable  that  the 
story  should  be  set  forth,  for  the  work  was  like  the 
man,  unselfish  and  unobtrusive,  and  in  the  hurry  of 
modern  life  such  work  is  liable  to  be  lost  from  sight, 
so  that  people  profit  by  it  without  knowing  that  it 
was  ever  done.  So  genuinely  modest,  so  destitute  of 
self-regarding  impulses  was  my  friend,  that  I  am  sure 
it  would  be  quite  like  him  to  chide  me  for  thus  setting 
forth,  with  what  he  would  deem  too  much  emphasis, 
his  claims  to  public  remembrance.  But  such  mild 
reproof  it  is  right  that  we  should  disregard  ;  for  the 
memory  of  a  life  so  beautiful  and  useful  is  a  precious 
possession  of  which  mankind  ought  not  to  be  deprived. 
We  shall  see  how  Edward  Youmans,  in  spite  of  scanty 


4  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

schooling  and  long  years  of  blindness,  developed  into 
a  teacher  of  science.  I  have  called  his  work  unobtru- 
sive ;  we  shall  see  how  multifarious  and  potent  it  came 
to  be,  and  what  rare  qualities  of  intellect  and  of  char- 
acter it  required  and  displayed.  We  shall  witness  his 
profound  conviction  of  the  value  of  scientific  knowl- 
edge in  promoting  the  welfare  of  the  people.  He 
found  that  most  needful  knowledge  monopolized  by 
a  few  specially  trained  persons-;  his  warm,  popular 
sympathies  urged  him  to  do  what  he  could  to  make 
the  multitude  sharers  in  the  priceless  possession.  By 
tongue  and  pen,  on  the  platform  and  through  the 
press,  he  worked  with  devoted  energy  in  this  noble 
cause,  until  he  had  done  more  than  any  other  Ameri- 
can of  his  time  to  diffuse  a  knowledge  of  science  and 
an  appreciation  of  scientific  methods  among  the 
American  people.  He  did  more  than  any  one  else  to 
prepare  the  way  in  America  for  the  great  scientific 
awakening  which  first  became  visible  after  the  publi- 
cation of  The  Origin  of  Species.  In  Youmans  the 
approaching  better  era  found  its  John  the  Baptist. 

Edward  Livingston  Youmans  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Coeymans,  Albany  County,  N.  Y.,  on  the  3d 
of  June,  1821.  From  his  father  and  mother,  both  of 
whom  survived  him,  he  inherited  strong  traits  of 
character  as  well  as  an  immense  fund  of  vital  energy. 
His  father,  Vincent  Youmans,  was  a  man  of  independ- 
ent character,  strong  convictions,  and  perfect  moral 
courage,  with  a  quick  and  ready  tongue,  in  the  use  of 
which  earnestness  and  frankness  perhaps  sometimes 
prevailed  over  prudence.  The  mother,  Catherine  Sco- 
field,  was  notable  for  balance  of  judgment,  prudence, 
and  tact.  Her  maternal  grandfather  was  Irish  ;  and, 


Birth  and  Childhood.  5 

while  I  very  much  doubt  the  soundness  of  the  gener- 
alizations we  are  so  prone  to  make  about  race  charac- 
teristics, I  can  not  but  feel  that  for  the  impulsive — one 
had  almost  said  explosive — warmth  of  sympathy,  the 
enchanting  grace  and  vivacity  of  manner,  in  Edward 
Youmans,  this  strain  of  Irish  blood  may  have  been  to 
some  extent  accountable.  Both  father  and  mother 
belonged  to  the  old  Puritan  stock  of  New  England, 
and,  excepting  a  Dutch  great-grandmother,  the  father's 
ancestry  was  purely  English.*  Nothing  could  be  more 
honourably  or  characteristically  English  than  the  name. 
In  the  old  feudal  society  the  yeoman,  like  the  frank- 
lin, was  the  small  freeholder,  owning  a  modest  estate 
yet  holding  it  by  no  servile  tenure,  a  man  of  the  com- 
mon people  yet  no  churl,  a  member  of  the  state  who 
"  knew  his  rights,  and  knowing  dared  maintain."  Few, 
indeed,  were  the  nooks  and  corners  outside  of  merry 
England  where  such  men  flourished  as  the  yeomen 
and  franklins  who  founded  democratic  New  England. 
It  has  often  been  remarked  how  the  most  illustrious 
of  Franklins  exemplified  the  typical  virtues  of  his  class. 
There  was  much  that  was  similar  in  the  temperament 
and  disposition  of  Edward  Youmans — the  sagacity  and 
penetration,  the  broad  common  sense,  the  earnest  pur- 
pose veiled  but  not  hidden  by  the  blithe  humour,  the 
devotion  to  ends  of  wide  practical  value,  the  habit  of 
making  in  the  best  sense  the  most  out  of  life. 

Into  the  mother's  skein  of  heredity  there  had  en- 
tered a  silken  thread  of  romance.  Her  grandmother, 
Catherine  Moore,  when  a  child  of  three  or  four  years, 
had  landed  at  New  Haven,  after  a  stormy  voyage 
across  the  Atlantic.  Family  tradition  has  it  that  the 

*  See  Appendix  A. 


6  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

little  waif  had  embarked  in  charge  of  a  woman  who 
seemed  to  be  her  nurse,  and  who  died  during  the  voy- 
age. On  his  arrival  in  port,  the  captain,  following  an 
ordinary  custom  under  such  circumstances,  put  little 
Catherine  up  at  auction  for  her  passage  money.  She 
was  bought  by  a  physician  of  New  Haven.  Her 
clothing,  her  delicate  features  and  graceful  manners, 
all  betokened  refined  parentage — but  who  could  her 
parents  be  ?  Her  purchaser,  who  became  fondly  at- 
tached to  her,  endeavoured  time  and  again  to  ascertain. 
But  in  days  of  slow  and  infrequent  ocean  voyages,  of 
inland  travel  slower  still,  his  efforts  proved  fruitless. 
As  Catherine  Moore  grew  to  womanhood  her  graces 
of  mind  and  person  increased  the  interest  felt  in  her 
origin,  but  the  mystery  was  never  cleared  up.  At  the 
age  of  sixteen  she  was  wooed  and  won  by  Philip  Ken- 
nedy, a  native  of  Ireland.  Their  eldest  daughter  be- 
came the  mother  of  Catherine  Moore  Scofield,  who 
married  Vincent  Youmans. 

At  the  time  of  this  marriage  Miss  Scofield's  family 
were  living  at  Westerlo,  in  Albany  County.  Vincent 
Youmans  was  brought  up  on  a  farm  in  the  neighbour- 
ing town  of  Coeymans.  The  market  for  the  Coey- 
mans  farmers  was  at  Albany,  some  fifteen  miles  dis- 
tant, and  hence  there  was  urgent  need  of  "  lumber 
wagons,"  as  they  were  called,  for  carrying  farm  prod- 
ucts. One  Jabez  Burrill,  a  shrewd  and  energetic 
wagon  maker  of  Sheffield,  in  the  Berkshire  Hills,  was 
foremost  in  supplying  this  demand,  and  not  unfre- 
quently  visited  Coeymans  to  deliver  wagons  and  get 
fresh  orders.  He  was  in  the  habit  of  stopping  at  the 
house  of  Jeremiah  Youmans,  and  made  a  great  im- 
pression on  the  minds  of  that  farmer's  sons,  John  and 
Vincent.  Both  were  eager  to  accept  his  offer  to  take 


Birth  and  Childhood.  J 

one  of  them  as  an  apprentice.  After  due  deliberation 
it  was  decided  that  Vincent  should  go  with  Mr.  Bur- 
rill,  and  that  after  his  return  home  he  should  set  up  a 
wagon  shop  and  communicate  the  mysteries  of  this 
handicraft  to  his  brother.  Accordingly,  in  the  au- 
tumn of  1808,  having  nearly  completed  his  fifteenth 
year,  Vincent  Youmans  went  to  Sheffield.  His  art 
was  learned  with  conscientious  thoroughness.  Upon 
his  return  to  Coeymans  he  opened  a  wagon  shop 
and  worked  early  and  late,  from  daybreak  until 
nightfall,  and  then  by  candlelight.  He  took  great 
pains  in  gathering  his  materials,  and  his  work  was 
done  with  most  scrupulous  care.  No  detail  was 
neglected,  and  it  used  to  be  said  that  Youmans's 
wagons  lasted  forever.  But  his  profits  were  small ; 
and  besides  the  three  or  four  wagons  which  he 
could  make  by  hand  in  the  course  of  a  year,  it  was 
necessary  to  eke  out  the  scanty  income  by  more 
or  less  repairing  and  tinkering,  and  by  shoeing 
horses. 

While  he  was  engaged  in  these  avocations  Miss 
Scofield  was  teaching  school  in  the  neighbourhood.  A 
favourite  sister  of  Vincent  Youmans  was  about  to  be 
married  ;  and  while  he  was  speaking  one  day  of  the 
loneliness  that  would  come  upon  the  household  when 
she  left  it,  one  of  his  sisters  told  him  he  had  better  get 
married  himself,  and  added,  that  if  he  could  only  get 
"  the  school-teacher  at  Uncle  Levi's  "  it  would  be  the 
luckiest  thing  that  could  ever  happen  to  him.  This 
remark  made,  a  strange  impression  upon  the  young 
man.  Though  he  had  never  seen  Miss  Scofield,  he 
had  "  a  feeling  at  his  heart  which  he  could  not  mis- 
take," and  which  he  interpreted  as  a  sign  by  which 
God  gave  him  to  know  that  she  would  one  day  be  his 


8  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

wife.  Soon  afterward,  at  a  Sunday  afternoon  meet- 
ing, she  was  pointed  out  to  him,  but  some  months 
elapsed  before  he  sought  her  acquaintance.  From  the 
first  he  seems  to  have  had  no  misgivings  as  to  her  be- 
coming his  wife,  but  it  was  left  to  Providence  to  de- 
termine the  manner  of  meeting.  One  day,  having 
hurt  his  hand  in  the  shop  so  that  he  could  not  go  on 
with  his  work,  the  spirit  moved  young  Vincent  to  pay 
a  visit  at  Uncle  Levi's.  There  he  found  a  quilting 
party  and  met  Miss  Scofieid,  in  whose  good  graces 
he  made  rapid  progress.  In  1820  they  were  mar- 
ried. Vincent  was  twenty-six  years  of  age,  and 
his  bride  twenty-two.  Their  long  union  was  brok- 
en by  the  death  of  Mrs.  Youmans  in  February, 
1888;  her  husband  survived  her  nearly  a  year.  At 
this  great  age  both  remained  in  full  possession  of 
their  mental  faculties,  and  some  of  these  incidents 
were  related  by  Vincent  Youmans  after  his  wife's 
death. 

About  a  month  before  the  wedding  day  the  wagon 
shop  caught  fire  and  was  burned  to  the  ground,  and 
about  four  hundred  dollars  worth  of  finished  work, 
just  ready  for  delivery,  was  destroyed.  But  this  bitter 
calamity  did  not  postpone  the  marriage,  for  Miss  Sco- 
fieid had  saved  two  hundred  dollars  from  her  earn- 
ings, and  with  this  sum  the  young  husband's  business 
was  again  set  going.  He  rebuilt  his  shop,  and  the 
first  housekeeping  of  the  newly  married  pair  was  in 
a  little  old  log  house  that  stood  near  by.  It  was 
here  that  my  friend  Edward  was  born  in  the  follow- 
ing June.  On  the  day  of  his  birth  his  maternal 
grandmother  came  to  see  the  happy  parents,  and  was 
permitted  to  name  the  child.  She  wished  to  give 
him  the  name  of  her  revered  pastor,  Robert  Living- 


Birth  and  Childhood.  9 

ston,  of  Coxsackie,  but  as  the  father  objected  to  double 
names  it  was  agreed  to  call  him  Livingston  simply. 
In  after  years  he  himself  assumed  the  forename  Ed- 
ward, by  which  most  of  his  friends  soon  came  to 
know  him,  though  his  mother  always  called  him  Liv- 
ingston till  the  end  of  his  days. 

As  the  good  grandmother  Scofield  was  taking  leave 
of  the  newcomer  that  day  she  tenderly  breathed  over 
him  the  prayer  that  he  might  become  as  good  and  as 
useful  a  man  as  the  minister  whose  name  he  was  to 
bear ;  which  in  her  mind,  of  course,  was  equivalent  to 
praying  that  he  might  become  a  minister.  In  later 
years,  when  hopes  that  had  been  encouraged  by  his 
rare  gifts  of  mind  and  heart  were  seemingly  thwarted 
by  the  unforeseen  line  of  development  which  he 
began  to  follow,  his  mother  sometimes  reproachfully 
reminded  him  of  this  early  consecration  to  the  work 
of  saving  souls.  Edward  always  met  this  mood  seri- 
ously, assuring  her  that  he  felt  his  responsibility,  and 
should  certainly  employ  such  powers  as  he  had  in  the 
way  his  loving  and  beloved  grandmother  had  pointed 
out.  But  in  order  to  clear  his  own  path,  and  to  widen 
the  scope  of  his  mother's  perceptions,  he  never  failed 
to  insist  that  in  order  to  take  part  in  the  work  of  sav- 
ing souls  it  was  not  necessary  to  be  a  clergyman.  It 
was  difficult  for  Calvinists  and  Puritans,  like  Vincent 
Youmans  and  his  wife,  to  understand  any  other  classi- 
fication of  pursuits  than  that  of  sacred  and  secular, 
and  what  they  regarded  as  Edward's  religious  defec- 
tion was  a  source  of  keen  disappointment  and  worry. 
But  after  he  had  reached  middle  life  it  was  an  un- 
speakable comfort  to  him  that  they  came  to  recognize 
their  error,  and  to  see  that  his  career  was  a  true  answer 
to  the  grandmother's  prayer.  Even  if  they  did  not 


io  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

quite  admit  his  claim  concerning  the  sacredness  of  his 
chosen  work,  and  if  they  were  unable  fully  to  appre- 
ciate its  extent  and  importance,  they  could  well  under- 
stand the  singleness  of  purpose  with  which  it  was  pur- 
sued, and  the  lofty  moral  qualities  which  it  revealed 
from  day  to  day. 

To  the  religious  experiences  of  the  family  we  shall 
have  occasion  to  return.  At  present  we  are  concerned 
with  the  circumstances  of  Edward's  childhood.  When 
he  was  a  babe  of  six  months  his  parents  removed  from 
Coeymans  to  the  town  of  Greenfield,  in  Saratoga 
County,  finding  a  home  three  miles  west  of  Saratoga 
Springs,  at  the  Four  Corners,  where  for  half  a  century 
there  had  stood  a  Congregationalist  meeting-house,  a 
district  schoolhouse,  a  store,  and  two  or  three  dwell- 
ings. On  one  of  the  corners  was  a  little  estate  of  three 
acres,  with  its  comfortable  house,  where  Vincent  You- 
mans set  up  his  wagon  shop  and  smithy,  and  for  a  short 
time  kept  a  tavern.  The  situation  was  favourable  for 
thirsty  customers  at  election  times  and  when  law- 
suits were  in  progress,  but  this  source  of  income  was 
soon  abandoned.  The  first  temperance  society  es- 
tablished in  the  United  States  whose  members  were 
required  to  sign  a  pledge  to  abstain  from  intoxicating 
liquors  was  organized  by  the  pastor  of  the  neighbour- 
ing Congregational  church,  and  within  its  walls  the  so- 
ciety still  holds  its  regular  meetings.  One  Sunday 
his  pastor  preached  so  moving  a  sermon  on  the  evils 
of  intemperance,  that  next  morning  Vincent  Youmans 
pulled  down  his  tavern  sign,  spilled  the  contents  of 
his  kegs  and  bottles  on  the  ground,  and  never  dealt  in 
liquor  again. 

His.  neighbours,  mainly  farmers,  were  chiefly  of 
Connecticut  stock.  On  soil  none  too  generous,  many 


Birth  and  Childhood,  n 

of  these  men  were  obliged  to  eke  out  a  livelihood  as 
carpenters,  masons,  shoemakers,  and  blacksmiths.  A 
Yankee  versatility  had  been  developed  in  their  race  by 
sheer  necessity.  It  was  not  only  common,  for  example, 
to  weave  cloth  at  home,  but  also  to  build  the  loom  for 
it  at  home.  Adaptability  and  ingenuity  had  an  earning 
power  denied  to  routine  work  of  any  kind.  "  Handi- 
ness"  was  universal;  machinery  had  as  yet  made  but 
small  encroachment  on  handicraft  skill.  Capital  was 
then  the  junior  partner  of  labour,  and  these  men  were 
more  independent,  more  individualized,  than  men  of 
similar  grade  to-day.  Special  aptitudes  were  not  sel- 
dom discovered  in  the  wide  variety  of  work  set  before 
every  man  as  a  farmer,  builder,  machinist,  repairer. 
Yet  while  intelligence  was  undoubtedly  quickened 
by  this  almost  total  absence  of  division  of  labour, 
the  financial  results  then  and  there  were  not  en- 
couraging. Times  were  very  bad  in  rural  New  York 
when  Vincent  Youmans  came  to  settle  in  Green- 
field. His  house  and  lot  had  cost  him  four  hundred 
dollars,  of  which  he  had  had  to  borrow  two  hundred 
and  forty  dollars.  His  trade  of  wagon  making  did 
not  prove  particularly  profitable.  Money  was  not  to 
be  had  for  wagons,  so  as  opportunity  offered  they 
had  to  be  traded  for  supplies,  or  for  articles  which  on 
occasion  could  be  exchanged  for  supplies.  Making 
ends  meet  involved  much  planning,  incessant  toil, 
ceaseless  anxieties.  At  the  end  of  ten  years  four  sons 
and  a  daughter  had  been  born  to  the  parents,*  who 
in  the  meantime  had  united  with  the  Congregational 
Church.  The  easily  satisfied  personal  wants,  the  pref- 

*  Then,  after  an  interval  of  nine  years,  the  sixth  child.  William  Jay 
Youmans,  the  present  editor  of  the  Popular  Science  Monthly,  was  born  in 
1839.  The  seventh  and  last  child,  Eliot,  was  born  in  1841. 


12  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

erence  for  simplicity  of  living  to  cumbrous  luxury, 
which  marked  Edward  Youmans  through  life,  had 
their  origin,  no  doubt,  in  his  natural  good  sense,  but 
they  were  fostered  by  his  early  circumstances  and 
early  discipline.  As  the  firstborn,  he  was  soon  im- 
pressed into  helping  to  bring  up  his  sister  and  broth- 
ers ;  there  was  to  the  end  something  paternal  in  his 
solicitude  for  them  and  all  their  concerns.  When  ab- 
sent on  his  European  journeys  his  remembrances  to 
family  and  friends  were  as  manifold  as  those  at  the 
close  of  a  Pauline  epistle.  His  mother,  in  the  last  year 
of  her  long  life,  the  year  following  his  death,  used  to 
tell  what  a  good  boy  Edward  was — he  would  never  go 
to  play  without  first  asking  if  there  was  anything  he 
could  do  for  her,  and  he  would  often  leave  play  to 
come  in  and  repeat  the  question.  When  company  was 
entertained  it  was  his  pride  to  set  the  table  and  serve 
the  guests.  The  schoolhouse  was  close  by,  and  at 
three  years  of  age  Edward  was  tempted  by  his  play- 
mates to  take  a  place  beside  them  there.  Sixty  years 
ago  infant  classes  in  country  schools  ran  little  risk  of 
undue  brain  excitement,  and  no  very  severe  strain 
was  put  upon  Edward's  dawning  mind.  He  quickly 
learned  to  read,  write,  spell,  and  cipher,  but  beyond 
these  acquirements  there  was  little  else  gained  than 
the  useful  discipline  a  child  gets  by  coming  into  con- 
tact and  collision  with  other  children.  It  was  less 
in  the  formal  lessons  of  this  primitive  district  school 
than  in  home  influences  that  his  real  education  pro- 
ceeded. His  mind  and  heart  were  drawn  out  by 
the  example  of  God-fearing  parents,  who  lived  indus- 
triously, soberly,  and  kindly.  He  had  all  the  recrea- 
tion his  buoyant  nature  demanded,  and  with  access  to 
books  soon  showed  a  passion  for  reading.  His  home 


Birth  and  Childhood.  13 

life,  if  it  had  its  hardships,  had  also  much  genuine 
pleasure. 

Narrow  means  gave  every  member  of  the  house- 
hold a  score  of  opportunities  for  helpfulness  where 
wealth  would  have  begrudged  one.  If  the  strain  to 
earn  and  save  was  never  relaxed,  it  was  largely  be- 
cause the  parents  persisted  in  giving  to  their  children 
educational  privileges  better  than  were  enjoyed  by 
neighbouring  families  in  much  easier  circumstances. 
Small  as  the  store  of  ready  cash  might  be,  there  was 
always  enough  for  the  purchase  of  books  and  news- 
papers, as  well  as  for  some  aid  to  religious  and  social 
reforms. 

Vincent  Youmans  was  a  man  who  liked  to  talk 
and  hear  others  talk ;  his  home  was  a  centre  where 
neighbours  were  wont  to  gather  and  exchange  views. 
Gossip  was,  perhaps,  the  staple  of  conversation ;  but 
topics  of  moment  and  dignity  were  often  discussed. 
Labour-saving  appliances,  improved  farm  implements, 
the  best  manner  of  utilizing  manure,  and  kindred  mat- 
ters, were  duly  canvassed.  In  a  community  where 
mechanical  ingenuity  was  general,  there  was  much 
to  stir  the  deepest  interest  when  the  first  steamboats 
were  plying  the  Hudson,  and  when  experimental  loco- 
motives were  being  built  by  Trevithick  and  Stephen- 
son.  At  times,  instead  of  dwelling  on  these  inventions 
and  picturing  the  wonders  they  were  likely  to  usher 
into  the  world,  questions  of  politics,  theology,  and  re- 
form were  briskly  and  keenly  argued.  Whatever 
might  be  the  topic,  Vincent  Youmans  used  to  bear  his 
part  as  pithily  as  anybody,  and  was  wont  to  speak 
with  the  tone  and  emphasis  of  a  pulpit  exhorter.  To 
listen  to  his  father  and  the  visitors  was  Edward's  de- 
light. Sometimes  his  interest  in  the  subject  overcame 


14  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

his  timidity,  and  he  would  nervously  contribute  a  re- 
mark. On  such  occasions  his  mother,  who  was  a  reti- 
cent woman,  was  apt  to  restrain  him  ;  she  did  not  like 
forwardness  in  little  boys.  It  is  evident  that  Vincent 
Youmans  was  one  of  those  men  who  supplv  an  intel- 
lectual stimulus  to  the  whole  community  in  which  they 
live.  For  a  lad  of  bright  and  inquisitive  mind  listen- 
ing to  such  talk  is  no  mean  education.  It  often  goes 
much  further  than  the  reading  of  books.  From  an 
early  age  Edward  Youmans  appropriated  all  such 
means  of  instruction.  He  had  that  ravening,  insatiable 
thirst  for  knowledge  which  is  one  of  God's  best  gifts 
to  man ;  for  he  who  is  born  with  this  appetite  must 
needs  be  grievously  ill-made  in  other  respects  if  it 
does  not  constrain  him  to  lead  a  happy  and  useful 
life. 

When  Edward  was  about  nine  years  old  an  event 
took  place  which  greatly  agitated  the  district.  A  new 
schoolhouse  had  been  built,  and  part  of  its  cost  was 
assessed  on  a  family  named  Wheeler,  which  refused  to 
pay.  It  was  then  the  custom  for  the  cost  of  maintain- 
ing district  schools  to  be  levied  on  the  families  who 
sent  children  to  them.  Families  who  sent  four  chil- 
dren paid  twice  as  much  as  those  who  sent  two ;  child- 
less families  paid  nothing.  With  regard  to  the  manner 
in  which  the  contributions  necessary  for  building  the 
schoolhouse  should  be  gathered,  the  law  wras  not 
clearly  understood.  The  Wheelers  pleaded  that,  as 
they  had  no  children  to  send  to  school,  it  was  as 
unjust  to  make  them  pay  toward  building  a  school- 
house  as  it  would  be  to  oblige  them  to  help  maintain 
a  school.  Through  two  years  litigation  dragged  on, 
when  these  sturdy  "  village  Hampdens,"  much  out  of 
pocket  and  quite  out  of  temper,  lost  their  case.  In 


Birth  and  Childhood.  15 

its  progress  the  suit  furnished  the  neighbourhood  with 
topics  of  comment  and  denunciation  for  months  and 
years.  The  resulting  feuds  affected  every  family  in 
the  district,  and  friendships  were  broken,  never  to  be 
healed.  Every  debate  was  spiced  with  general  and 
hearty  dislike  of  the  Wheelers.  Greenfield  was  a 
thorough  democracy,  in  which,  by  some  side  wind  of 
fortune,  that  family  of  aristocratic  tastes  and  manners 
had  been  stranded.  Their  demeanour  toward  neigh- 
bours quite  their  equals  in  intelligence  and  refinement 
was  pervaded  by  a  condescension  that  was  more  than 
Greenfield  human  nature  could  bear.  These  Wheelers 
lived  much  like  a  squire's  family  in  Yorkshire ;  they 
called  their  "  help  "  "  servants  " ;  and  they  kept  fox 
hounds  of  English  breed,  whose  depredations  so  ag- 
grieved Mrs.  Youmans  (who  lived  in  the  next  house) 
that  to  the  end  of  her  life  she  detested  dogs,  classing 
them  all  as  "  hounds,"  in  remembrance  of  Greenfield 
days. 

In  the  general  ill-will  felt  toward  this  family,  Ed- 
ward, child  as  he  was,  did  not  join.  His  sunny  face 
and  lively  ways  had  given  him  the  free  range  of  their 
demesnes.  He  was  sorry  to  see  people  who  had  been 
kind  to  him  contemned  and  humiliated.  Their  lawsuit 
about  the  school,  with  all  the  discussion  it  aroused, 
made  a  deep  impression  on  his  mind,  and  served  as  a 
nucleus  for  observation  and  thought.  As  years  went 
on,  this  early  implanted  interest  in  the  rights  and 
wrongs  of  State  education  deepened  and  widened. 

In  the  Wheeler  household  there  was  a  humble 
inmate  to  whom  Edward  became  strongly  attached. 
This  was  a  negro  boy  about  five  years  his  senior,  Joe 
Gundy  by  name.  Joe  did  chores  for  the  family  ;  but 
his  duties  were  so  light  that  he  had  a  good  deal  of 


1 6  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

leisure  on  his  hands.  He  was  the  local  organizer  of 
boys  into  bands  bent  on  fun  and  mischief,  so  that  his 
popularity  among  his  playmates  was  equaled  only  by 
his  unpopularity  with  their  mothers.  He  formed  a 
company  of  boy  soldiers,  Edward  among  the  number, 
and  much  pomp  and  flourish  attended  their  stated 
drill.  Joe  was  an  imaginative  and  superstitious  Afri- 
can, whose  chosen  reading  book  at  school  was  the  New 
Testament;  and  his  juvenile  hearers  would  listen  with 
bated  breath  when  he  read  favourite  chapters  from 
the  book  of  uRevelation.  Joe  was  so  daring,  amusing, 
and  resourceful  that  his  influence  over  Edward  almost 
amounted  to  fascination.  Although  mischievous,  Joe 
was  in  the  main  a  good  boy.  Nobody  followed  his 
leadership  or  gave  him  readier  obedience  in  all  schemes 
and  excursions  than  Edward,  and  no  harm  came  of  it. 
Thus  as  a  child  did  he  manifest  his  trait  of  generous 
admiration  for  superior  gifts,  for  natural  ability  of  any 
kind — a  trait  which  in  mature  years  much  extended 
his  usefulness  by  making  him  the  loyal  second  and 
supporter  of  men  whom  he  justly  deemed  worthy  of 
leadership.  No  one  can  be  a  friend,  a  trusted  lieuten- 
ant and  apostle,  unless  he  is  first  a  man — honest,  hon- 
ourable, capable  of  disinterested  attachment.  Such  a 
man  in  the  making  was  the  little  fellow  who  saw  and 
acknowledged  more  talent  and  goodness  in  a  negro 
servant  than  in  any  boy  of  white  race  he  then  knew. 
His  memory  in  after  years  often  reverted  to  Joe,  and 
with  sorrow,  for  there  came  a  report  that  in  early 
manhood  that  humble  friend  had  been  sold  into  slav- 
ery. 

Another  trait  of  character — individuality  and  the 
love  of  individuality — found  a  favouring  nursery  in 
Greenfield.  Just  because  it  was  a  sparsely  settled 


Birth  and  Childhood.  17 

community  did  every  man  in  it  have  a  clear  percep- 
tion of  his  rights  and  responsibilities  as  a  man  and 
a  citizen.  No  man's  vote  or  influence  was  indistin- 
guishably  merged  with  those  of  thousands  of  other 
men.  A  unit  was  not  so  petty  a  fraction  of  the  so- 
cial or  political  total  as  to  be  in  danger  of  regarding 
himself  as  practically  a  cipher.  There  was  no  local 
magnate  who,  by  wealth,  office,  or  superior  education, 
could  keep  any  of  his  neighbours  in  eclipse,  or  subdue 
any  of  them  to  be  echoes  of  his  mind  and  will.  As 
appointers  of  school  trustees,  of  town  and  county  offi- 
cers, as  voters  in  the  State,  every  man  had  a  "  say," 
which  he  said,  and  which  he  acted  upon  with  clearly 
perceived  effect.  Greenfield  was  a  fair  sample  of 
thousands  of  such  communities  then  extant — substan- 
tially American  in  population,  homogeneous,  demo- 
cratic ;  communities  fast  disappearing  (alas !)  before  im- 
migration of  low  type,  before  the  disparities  of  fortune 
created  by  steam,  electricity,  and  modern  methods  of 
trade  and  manufacture, — most  of  all,  doubtless,  by  the 
iniquitous  tariff  laws  of  the  last  thirty  years.  Whole- 
some as  much  of  the  life  in  Greenfield  was,  it  had  its 
inevitable  little  battles  between  progress  and  tradition. 
Of  this,  let  one  example  suffice.  At  a  certain  State 
election  party  feeling  ran  high,  and  for  the  first  time  on 
record  the  Congregationalist  minister  dared  to  vote. 
His  political  opponents,  especially  those  in  his  own 
church,  were  furious,  and  years  passed  before  the  act 
was  forgiven.  Edward  much  admired  this  plucky 
clergyman — Rev.  Mr.  Redfield — first,  because  he  liked 
and  drove  a  fast  horse ;  secondly,  because  he  had  the 
courage  of  his  convictions. 

Small  as  Greenfield  was,  it  nevertheless  contained 
a  freethinker  or  two,  who  stayed  away  from  church 


1 8  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

and  read  Voltaire  and  Paine.  Between  these  men  and 
divers  champions  of  orthodoxy  was  waged  constant 
war,  to  Edward's  great  instruction.  He  was  early 
made  familiar  with  the  stock  criticisms  directed 
against  organized  Christianity,  yet  his  essentially  re- 
ligious nature  forbade  his  ever  joining  in  an  attack 
on  institutions  which,  however  faulty,  he  held  to  con- 
tain a  core  supremely  true. 


CHAPTER   II. 

YOUTH   AND    EDUCATION. 
1831-1837.     Age  10-16. 

AFTER  living  in  Greenfield  ten  years,  Vincent  You- 
mans  determined  to  leave  it  and  buy  a  farm,  where  he 
could  add  to  the  very  limited  gains  of  wagon  making. 
At  Milton,  two  miles  away,  he  was  offered  at  a  low 
price  a  farm  of  eighty  acres.  He  bought  it  and  re- 
moved there  in  the  fall  of  1831.  The  place  had  been 
owned  by  a  widow,  and  worked  at  much  disadvan- 
tage ;  the  soil,  originally  thin,  had  been  pretty  well  ex- 
hausted ;  the  fences  were  dilapidated,  and  of  timber 
little  was  left.  The  house  was  much  smaller  than 
the  one  in  Greenfield.  It  had  been  erected  the 
previous  winter  by  a  "  bee,"  to  replace  a  house  de- 
stroyed by  fire,  and  its  hasty  workmanship  and  make- 
shift materials  afforded  much  incidental  ventilation 
through  walls  and  roof.  However,  the  removal  to 
Milton  was  advantageous  in  many  ways.  Farming 
gave  the  father  employment  when  wagons  were  not 
in  demand  ;  the  boys,  as  they  grew  up,  were  helpful ; 
a  dairy  and  poultry  yard,  managed  by  the  mother, 
yielded  a  small  but  certain  cash  income,  which  was 
carefully  hoarded  to  pay  the  debts.  Food  and  shel- 
ter, so  costly  in  cities,  were  supplied  by  the  farm,  and 
gave  no  concern ;  but  there  were  the  doctor's  bills, 
school  bills,  church  subscriptions,  and  so  forth,  to  be 

(19) 


2O  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

met,  so  that  the  question  of  ways  and  means  was  ever 
urgent.  The  children  were  early  taken  into  the  fam- 
ily counsels,  as  each  one  for  himself,  through  individ- 
ual needs,  had  a  living  interest  in  the  issue  of  these 
deliberations.  The  educational  effect  of  this,  though 
unthought  of  at  the  time,  was  manifold.  Keeping 
their  minds  active  about  practical  matters  and  their 
wits  at  work  to  achieve  desired  ends,  supplied  to  these 
children  a  needed  supplement  to  the  abstract  and  un- 
applied teaching  of  the  school.  They  were  vitally  in- 
terested in  promoting  domestic  and  farm  operations, 
and  in  intervals  when  work  at  home  was  not  pressing 
the  boys  gladly  "  hired  out "  to  the  neighbouring  farm- 
ers. The  situation  had  also  its  moral  reactions.  The 
painful  consciousness  of  defective  dress  or  other  ap- 
pointments led  to  reflection,  and  to  the  feeling  of  the 
relative  unimportance  of  such  things.  Nor  did  this 
discipline  diminish  self-respect,  for  it  led  to  an  early 
classification  of  the  interests  of  life  in  which  good 
character  and  intelligence  were  most  honoured.  And 
so,  by  common  consent,  although  the  family  income 
was  larger  at  Milton  than  at  Greenfield,  if  any  increase 
in  expenditure  was  afforded,  it  was  for  the  purchase 
of  more  books,  in  subscriptions  to  church  and  reform 
funds,  rather  than  in  any  outlay  for  matters  of  mere 
fashion  or  appearance.  There  was  no  relaxation  of 
toil  or  economy.  Constant  improvements  demanded 
outlay,  interest  had  to  be  met,  the  mortgage  gradu- 
ally paid  off.  Careful  tillage  and  good  management 
brought  their  reward.  When  Vincent  Youmans  had 
wrorked  his  farm  eight  years  he  was  able  to  sell  it 
for  three  thousand  dollars ;  it  had  cost  him  originally 
but  a  third  of  that  sum. 

Until  his  sixteenth  year  Edward  helped  his  father 


Youth  and  Education.  21 

at  work  in  summer,  attending  the  district  school  in 
winter,  where  he  learned  quite  as  much  from  inter- 
course with  his  fellow-scholars  as  from  either  teacher 
or  book.  Fifty  years  ago  such  schools  enjoyed  more 
of  the  interest  and  attention  of  parents  than  now. 
Each  voter's  school  tax  was  larger,  proportionately 
to  his  means.  Keen  interest  was  taken  in  the  autumn 
election  of  school  trustees,  whose  selection  of  teachers 
was  justly  regarded  as  a  matter  of  weight,  worthy 
of  careful  discussion.  Sometimes  the  majority  of 
trustees — and  voters,  for  that  matter — would  be  con- 
tent to  take  a  mediocre  teacher  at  a  small  salary. 
Under  such  circumstances  it  was  not  uncommon  for 
a  few  dissatisfied  heads  of  families  to  secure  better 
talent  by  supplementing  the  voted  salary  from  their 
own  pockets. 

These  engagements  of  teachers  were  usually  short; 
men  taught  in  winter,  women  in  summer.  A  teacher 
who  found  favour  in  the  sight  of  trustees  and  pupils 
was  sometimes  engaged  for  a  second  season.  If  the 
pupils  failed  to  get  excellence  of  tuition,  they  did  not 
lack  variety  of  it,  and  were  not  permitted  to  subside 
into  any  sluggish  habit  of  respect  for  those  set  in  tem- 
porary authority  over  them.  Rarely  did  one  teacher 
succeed  another  without  fully  and  freely  criticising 
the  predecessor's  methods;  and  such  criticisms,  heard 
on  the  benches,  were  sure  to  be  carried  home  and  to 
keep  alive  the  parental  interest  in  school  matters.  No 
uniformity  of  text-books  was  required  ;  all  sorts  of 
grammars,  geographies,  and  arithmetics,  new  and  old, 
met  together  on  friendly  terms.  Not  seldom  one  book 
economically  served  two  pupils.  At  the  advent  of  a 
new  teacher  proficiency  was  measured  and  position  in 
the  classes  defined.  A  free-and-easy  mutual  criticism 


22  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

abated  any  pretense  ol  knowledge  where  knowledge 
did  not  exist.  If  a  boy  dishonestly  claimed  to  be 
"away  up"  in  any  subject,  he  was  sure  to  be  search- 
ingly  examined  by  his  comrades,  and  merciless  ridi- 
cule greeted  the  pretender's  silence  or  his  blunder- 
ing answer.  Public  opinion  among  the  scholars  was 
strong,  and  a  stringent  standard  of  honour  was  en- 
forced. Fewness  of  rules  and  scantiness  of  machinery 
favoured  the  individuality  that  could  render  a  reason. 
It  was  a  school  of  democracy  quite  as  much  as  a 
place  for  learning  arithmetic  and  grammar.  The 
most  wholesome  feature  in  the  district  school  of 
those  days  was  this  absence  of  over-regulation.  It 
was  a  feature  that  Edward  learned  early  to  appre- 
ciate, and  he  always  cherished  a  distrust  of  excessive 
organization,  and  a  dislike  to  machine  methods  with- 
out elasticity  of  adaptation  to  pupils  with  special  gifts 
or  tastes. 

It  was  then  common  for  boys  to  visit  schools  in 
districts  adjoining  their  own,  and  the  practice  tended 
to  the  advancement  of  learning  in  two  ways:  abroad, 
the  boys  were  ready  enough  to  tell  wherein  their  own 
schools  might  excel,  and  if  they  could  bring  home  any 
new  light  wherewith  to  criticise  their  teacher,  they 
did  so  cheerfully.  On  visits  of  this  kind  Edward  went 
to  a  school  at  Greenfield  Centre  attended  by  his  cous- 
ins. There  he  saw  a  teacher  who  had  a  decided  "  call " 
to  his  office,  and  who  retained  his  charge  for  many 
years.  Jeremiah  Goodrich,  or  Uncle  Good,  as  he  was 
always  called,  had  originally  studied  law,  but,  disliking 
the  contests  of  the  courts,  had,  early  in  his  practice, 
abandoned  the  bar  for  the  schoolroom.  He  had  all 
the  elaborate  courtesy  of  a  gentleman  of  the  last  cen- 
tury. Because  he  loved  children  they  loved  him,  and 


Youth  and  Education.  23 

so  the  exercise  of  his  uncommon  gifts  as  a  teacher  was 
easy.  Uncle  Good  held  that  the  mind  needed  rather 
to  be  provoked  than  informed.  He  cared  little  for 
rote  learning;  his  aim  was  to  develop  the  thinking 
faculty  in  his  pupils  by  well-considered  questions  and 
suggestions.  Grammar  was  his  strong  point  and  a 
parsing  lesson  his  delight.  He  would  start  a  question 
of  syntax,  stimulate  the  expression  of  independent 
opinion,  and  then  show  that  the  right  answer  proved 
good  grammar  to  be  nothing  else  than  good  sense.  Of 
order,  as  commonly  observed,  there  was  little  in  Uncle 
Good's  school ;  the  pupils  sat  where  they  liked,  moved 
about  freely,  talked  aloud  if  they  chose,  but  seldom 
lost  sight  of  the  work  for  which  they  had  come  to- 
gether. The  utmost  familiarity  subsisted  between 
pupils  and  teacher,  but  respect  for  him  was  never  for- 
gotten. He  had  his  well-understood  rules  of  conduct, 
any  breach  of  which  drew  down  not  the  ferule  but 
something  more  dreadful  still,  his  displeasure.  He 
gave  pet  names  to  the  pupils,  many  of  which,  from 
their  aptness,  stuck  to  them  through  life.  From  a 
cross-beam  above  his  chair — he  had  no  desk — after  a 
lesson  he  would  shake  raisins  and  candy  to  the  floor, 
to  be  scrambled  for  by  the  children  in  the  abandon- 
ment of  delight. 

For  all  their  unconventionally,  Uncle  Good's  meth- 
ods proved  sound,  his  pupils  learned  quickly  and  thor- 
oughly, and  illustrated  the  value  of  his  great  principle 
—the  right  guidance  of  spontaneity.  His  fame  not 
only  brought  him  all  the  children  in  the  district,  but 
many  candidates  for  the  teaching  office  sought  his 
instruction.  Edward  plainly  saw  that  it  was  Uncle 
Goad's  rare  personal  qualities  that  enabled  him  to 
dispense  with  the  rigid  rules  needed  by  ordinary 


24  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

teachers.  In  after  years  he  used  to  say  that  it  was 
Uncle  Good  who  first  taught  him  what  his  mind  was 
for. 

Through  intercourse  and  training  of  this  sort  he 
learned  to  doubt,  to  test  the  soundness  of  opinions,  to 
make  original  inquiries,  and  to  find  and  follow  clews. 
After  the  schooldays  were  over  Edward  used  often  to 
visit  this  admirable  preceptor,  and  their  friendship 
ripened  into  warmth.  When  he  gave  Edward  the 
range  of  his  little  library  he  freely  expressed  his  own 
preferences,  but  drew  out  those  of  the  lad,  and  courte- 
ously suggested  that  they  were  probably  the  lines  on 
which  he  could  read  and  study  with  most  profit.  This 
deference  to  even  a  boy's  individuality  made  a  deep 
impression  on  Edwrard's  mind  ;  it  confirmed  his  own 
high  valuation  of  a  quality  which  he  was  to  express 
in  later  years  in  suggestive  words.  When  Darwin 
showed  that  organic  evolution  proceeds  upon  the 
spontaneous  variation  of  individual  plants  and  animals, 
Youmans  declared  individuality  among  men  to  be  in 
the  realm  of  mind  the  same  precious  manifestation, 
to  respect  and  foster  which  was  to  give  the  race  its 
best  opportunity  of  advancement. 

Would  that  every  community  of  school-children 
might  find  its  "  Uncle  Good  !  "  But  even  the  best  of 
teachers  can  effect  but  little  unless  he  finds  a  mind 
ready  of  itself  to  take  the  initiative.  It  is  doubtful  if 
men  of  eminent  ability  are  ever  made  so  by  schooling. 
The  school  offers  opportunities,  but  in  such  men  the 
tendency  to  the  initiative  is  so  strong  that  if  oppor- 
tunities are  not  offered  they  will  somehow  contrive  to 
create  them.  When  Edward  was  about  thirteen  years 
old  he  persuaded  his  father  to  buy  him  a  copy  of  Corn- 
stock's  Natural  Philosophy,  and  studied  it  at  home  in 


Youth  and  Education.  25 

his  leisure  hours.  He  repeated  many  of  the  experi- 
ments with  crude  appliances  of  his  own  making,  for 
Vincent  Youmans  always  encouraged  the  use  of  tools 
by  his  sons.  Edward's  most  striking  experiment  was 
with  a  centrifugal  water  wheel.  He  first  made  one 
with  arms  not  more  than  three  inches  long,  and  poured 
the  water  into  the  vertical  shaft  from  a  teakettle. 
When  the  wheel  began  to  revolve  in  a  direction  oppo- 
site to  that  of  the  stream  he  was  exultant,  and  at  once 
entered  upon  the  building  of  a  larger  and  better  model, 
moved  by  raising  a  small  dam  in  a  spring-fed  stream 
near  the  house.  This  machine  was  a  source  of  interest 
to  all  the  boys  and  not  a  few  of  the  men  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood, and  Edward  was  happy  in  explaining  to 
them  the  principle  of  its  motion.  It  was  his  earliest  at- 
tempt at  giving  scientific  lectures.  It  was  natural  that 
one  who  had  become  interested  in  physics  should  wish 
to  study  chemistry.  The  teacher  (who  was  not  Uncle 
Good)  had  never  so  much  as  laid  eyes  on  a  text-book 
of  chemistry  ;  but  Edward  was  not  to  be  daunted  by 
such  trifles.  A  copy  of  Comstock's  manual  was  pro- 
cured, another  pupil  was  found  willing  to  join  in  the 
study,  and  this  class  of  two  proceeded  to  learn  what 
they  could  from  reading  the  book,  while  the  teacher 
asked  them  the  printed  questions — those  questions  the 
mere  existence  of  which  in  text-books  is  apt  to  show 
what  a  low  view  publishers  take  of  the  average  intelli- 
gence of  teachers !  It  was  not  a  very  hopeful  way  of 
studying  such  a  subject  as  chemistry  ;  but  the  time 
was  not  wasted,  and  the  foundations  for  a  future  knowl- 
edge of  chemistry  were  laid.  The  experience  of  farm 
work  which  accompanied  these  studies  awakened  an 
especial  interest  in  agricultural  chemistry,  and  explains 
the  charm  which  that  subject  had  for  Youmans  in  later 


26  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

years.  He  came  to  realize  how  crude  and  primitive 
are  our  methods  of  making  the  earth  yield  its  produce, 
and  it  was  his  opinion — I  believe  most  profound  and 
farsighted — that,  when  men  have  once  learned  how- 
to  conduct  agriculture  upon  sound  scientific  prin- 
ciples, farming  will  become  one  of  the  most  whole- 
some and  attractive  forms  of  human  industry. 

It  was  chiefly  during  the  summer  intervals,  when 
he  did  not  attend  school,  that  Edward  helped  his 
father  on  the  farm.  His  younger  brother  Warren,  an 
untiring  worker,  used  sometimes  to  find  him  in  a  shady 
corner  with  a  book  in  his  hand  instead  of  a  hoe,  and 
was  known  to  utter  candid  criticisms  upon  such  kind 
of  farming.  The  offending  book  was  apt  to  relate  to 
subjects  widely  remote  from  agriculture.  Edward 
read  quite  as  much  for  pleasure  as  for  profit.  One  of 
the  Wheeler  boys  lent  him,  when  nine  years  old,  a 
copy  of  the  Iliad  containing  an  English  translation,  and 
this  interested  him  so  deeply  that  after  a  while  his 
father  bought  it  for  him,  along  with  the  Odyssey,  the 
^Eneid,  and  Ovid's  Metamorphoses.  The  minister,  the 
doctor,  and  the  whole  neighbourhood  were  brought 
under  contribution  to  satisfy  this  thirst  for  knowledge. 
Edward  was  from  his  earliest  childhood  a  borrower  of 
books.  In  later  years,  after  I  had  come  to  know  him, 
I  thought  I  had  never  seen  a  man  so  generous  with 
books ;  it  was  his  delight  not  so  much  to  lend  as  to 
give  them  outright  wherever  he  saw  that  they  could 
do  good.  His  mother  used  to  allude  to  his  supreme 
disgust,  at  the  age  of  ten,  when  an  old  woman  in  the 
neighbourhood  refused  him  the  loan  of  Pilgrim's  Prog- 
ress on  the  ground  that  he  could  not  understand  it. 
To  his  persistent  researches  things  often  turned  up  in 
queer  places.  His  sister,  Miss  Eliza  Youmans,  says  the 


Youth  and  Education.  27 

first  book  she  ever  read  through  was  the  old-fashioned 
popular  romance  of  Alonso  and  Melissa,  which  Ed- 
ward had  borrowed  of  "  a  coloured  farm  labourer  at 
Deacon  Thomas's."  He  found  Don  Quixote  in  posses- 
sion of  a  half-witted  man  who  had  never  thought  of 
reading  it,  but  was  very  willing  to  lend  and  ultimately 
to  barter  it  for  a  trifle.  It  was  in  four  small,  closely 
printed  volumes  bound  in  sheepskin,  and  in  the  years 
of  blindness  that  were  to  come,  at  times  when  all  other 
means  of  diversion  failed  to  relieve  the  gloom  that 
settled  so  deep  and  thick  over  poor  Edward,  his  sister 
found  that  she  had  only  to  open  one  of  these  volumes 
and  read  from  it  to  call  forth  a  smile  or  a  laugh.  In 
the  never-failing  interest  in  Sancho  and  his  master  his 
own  miseries  were  forgotten. 

When  a  small  circulating  library  was  organized  at 
Milton  he  became  a  subscriber,  paying  the  subscrip- 
tion from  a  potato  patch  his  father  allotted  him  in  the 
corner  of  a  field.  The  only  scientific  book  on  the 
shelves  of  this  library  was  Buffon's  "  Natural  History," 
and  this  he  read  again  and  again. 

This  constant  reading  not  only  informed  Edward's 
mind,  but  developed  his  natural  powers  of  expression. 
In  the  family  circle  he  would  often  repeat  the  substance 
of  a  chapter  or  book  he  had  been  reading,  and  could 
not  fail  to  find  how  much  the  effective  worth  of  a 
thought  is  multiplied  when  it  is  told  clearly  and  forci- 
bly, and  with  adaptation  to  the  hearers. 

As  a  youth  Edward  was  very  strong  and  athletic,  a 
capital  sportsman.  His  sight  was  the  keenest  and  his 
aim  the  surest.  He  would  often,  in  a  shooting  party, 
bring  down  a  bird  before  any  one  else  had  so  much 
as  descried  it.  His  enjoyments  afield  were,  however, 
to  be  cut  short  just  as  he  was  entering  upon  manhood. 


28  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

In  the  fall  of  1835  and  the  succeeding  winter  he  was 
attacked  by  inflammation  of  the  eyes.  This  was  the 
prelude  to  those  long  painful  years  of  blindness  that 
were  to  defeat  all  his  plans  of  study  and  largely  deter- 
mine his  career.  His  persistence  in  reading  and  writ- 
ing when  his  eyes  needed  rest  did  much  to  aggravate 
their  malady.  He  had  always  a  newspaper,  pamphlet, 
or  book  in  his  pocket  to  read  at  every  spare  moment. 
At  the  noon  dinner  hour  he  would  hurry  through  his 
meal  so  as  to  have  the  more  time  to  write  in  his  cham- 
ber. Imprudence  and  neglect  prevented  his  recovery. 
About  this  time,  in  his  sixteenth  year,  his  father's 
house  was  extended  and  substantially  rebuilt.  Edward 
mixed  mortar,  and  fetched  and  carried  generally.  The 
master  mason,  Ephraim  Child,  liked  the  bright,  willing 
lad,  and  in  the  evenings  taught  him  to  play  the  fife. 
Years  afterward,  when  blind,  he  became  proficient  on 
the  violin  also,  and  his  musical  capacity  brought  him 
both  recreation  and  solace. 

In  those  days,  as  always,  Edward  pursued  his  ends 
with  puritanical  energy.  He  was  as  uneasy  as  his 
father  at  " neglect  of  work"  and  "loss  of  time."  In 
later  years,  while  he  sympathized  with  modern  opin- 
ions concerning  the  value  of  amusements,  and  could 
give  good  advice  to  other  people  on  the  importance 
of  "intermittent  activity"  and  of  sometimes  taking  a 
rest,  nevertheless  his  inborn  disposition  was  apt  to 
overpower  his  judgment  in  such  matters,  and  the  re- 
sult for  him  was  too  much  like  "  all  work  and  no  play." 
Not  dullness,  but  blindness,  was  the  catastrophe  partly 
brought  on,  or  at  all  events  seriously  aggravated,  by 
the  unremittent  application  of  his  youthful  days. 
From  his  fourteenth  year  until  his  eighteenth  his 
life  was  a  conflict  between  bad  eyesight  on  the  one 


Youth  and  Education.  29 

hand  and  the  passion  for  reading  on  the  other.  When 
warned  by  friends,  he  did  not  seem  to  realize  his  dan- 
ger, and  would  either  reply  carelessly,  or  perhaps  ex- 
claim, with  the  rash  warmth  of  youthful  blood,  that  he 
would  rather  be  a  blind  man  than  an  ignoramus.  Nor 
did  the  parents  understand  the  seriousness  of  the  situ- 
ation. In  the  minds  of  people  in  Saratoga  County,  or 
any  other  rural  neighbourhood  sixty  years  ago,  there 
was  little  or  no  idea  of  inflexible  laws  of  nature  ruling 
our  lives  and  bringing  upon  us  the  consequences  of 
our  actions.  A  summary  reference  to  the  dispensa- 
tions of  Providence  was  apt  to  dispose  of  such  matters. 
We  are  thus  brought  once  more  to  the  religious 
experiences  of  the  family,  to  which  I  have  briefly  al- 
luded. The  father  and  mother  were  very  unlike  in 
their  way  of  looking  at  things.  Vincent  Youmans 
seems  to  have  been  a  born  doubter  and  rationalist, 
with  clear  ideas  and  a  ready  flow  of  language.  His 
wife  was  a  marvel  of  common  sense,  along  with  a  deep 
religious  tendency.  Outside  of  her  daily  duties  and 
the  practical  questions  involved  in  the  maintenance 
of  the  family  her  religion  explained  all  the  problems 
of  life  ;  and  she  exerted  a  powerful  influence  over  her 
husband,  who  otherwise  might  perhaps  never  have 
become  a  member  of  the  church.  There  was  much 
that  was  interesting  in  the  reaction  of  those  two  strong 
natures  upon  each  other.  They  were  in  the  habit  of 
discussing  all  sorts  of  questions  in  the  presence  of  the 
children ;  and  in  regard  to  political  and  social  matters 
much  freedom  of  speech  was  indulged,  for  in  that  little 
rural  world  the  leaven  of  great  moral  reforms  was 
working.  Between  husband  and  wife  there  was  com- 
plete harmony  on  the  "  temperance  question,"  and 
they  belonged  to  the  dominant  and  most  respectable 


3O  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

party  in  the  community — a  circumstance  which  count- 
ed for  much  with  Mrs.  Youmans,  but  for  little  or  noth- 
ing with  her  husband,  who  cared  not  if  he  stood  alone, 
so  long  as  he  satisfied  himself  that  he  was  right.  For  a 
long  time  questions  of  religious  belief  were  not  dis- 
cussed in  the  family ;  for  in  that  one  field  the  father 
had  abdicated  his  reason,  while  the  mother  had  no 
temptation  to  exercise  her  reason.  But  as  the  chil- 
dren grew  up  the  case  was  altered.  All  seemed  to 
have  inherited  the  father's  mental  tendency,  and  thus 
there  was  awakened  in  the  mother  a  painful  solicitude 
for  their  religious  welfare,  which  kept  the  subject 
alive  and  ready  at  any  moment  to  be  brought  forward. 
A  political  situation,  here  as  in  many  an  American 
family  at  that  time,  came  in  to  complicate  matters.  In 
the  eastern  counties  of  New  York  the  antislavery  agi- 
tation was  just  beginning.  Vincent  Youmans  was  the 
first  man  in  his  town  to  declare  himself  an  abolitionist, 
and  he  gave  hearty  support  to  any  friend  of  that  cause 
who  came  in  his  way.  Antislavery  speeches,  pam- 
phlets, and  books — of  many  of  which  the  acrid  and 
violent  tone  was  an  index  of  the  intensity  of  ill-nature 
that  opposition  to  great  reforms  is  sure  to  evoke — 
soon  formed  the  staple  of  his  reading  and  added  fresh 
pungency  to  his  talk.  This  marked  and  isolated  atti- 
tude of  the  father  at  once  put  the  family  on  the  de- 
fensive everywhere.  They  were  obliged  to  sustain 
themselves  against  ridicule  and  abuse  by  their  own  in- 
ward sense  of  what  was  right.  For  a  while  Mrs.  You- 
mans had  little  to  say  on  the  subject  of  the  antislavery 
crusade,  but  presently  it  assumed  a  shape  that  aroused 
her  antagonism.  The  Church  was  assailed  by  the  abo- 
litionists— and  not  without  much  reason — as  afraid  to 
oppose  slavery  and  indifferent  to  the  fate  of  the  negro. 


Youth  and  Education.  31 

Vincent  Youmans  could  see  that  the  clergy  as  a  body 
were  culpable  in  this  respect,  but  his  wife  could  not 
see  it.  To  admit  any  faults  or  shortcomings  in  the 
Church  seemed  to  her  to  be  undermining  the  founda- 
tions of  religion.  As  the  children  grew  up  the  urgency 
of  friends  and  relatives  concerning  the  condition  of 
their  souls  was  constant.  Edward  especially  was  "  la- 
boured with,"  but  apparently  to  little  purpose.  At  one 
time,  when  eleven  or  twelve  years  old,  he  was  suffi- 
ciently excited  with  the  goings  on  at  a  Baptist  pro- 
tracted meeting  to  go  forward  to  the  "anxious  seat." 
But  there  was  evidently  nothing  in  this  act  beyond 
momentary  excitement,  for  a  few  days  afterward,  as 
Edward  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  Baptist  minister  in 
the  unwonted  act  of  coming  in  at  the  Youmans  farm- 
stead, he  guessed  his  errand  and  carefully  kept  out  of 
sight.  It  is  clear  that  from  early  youth  Edward's  mind 
was  inhospitably  disposed,  not  indeed  to  religion  or  to 
Christianity,  but  to  the  form  of  it  that  was  offered  him 
for  acceptance.  He  was  wont  to  bring  forward  Qua- 
ker arguments  with  regard  to  Sunday  observances 
and  Calvinistic  symbolism  generally.  Upon  doctrinal 
questions  he  was  familiar  with  the  positions  of  many 
different  sects,  and  had  a  way  of  setting  off  one  against 
another  that  was  sometimes  comical.  Even  at  that 
early  time  he  had  learned  something  about  the  attitude 
of  scientific  thought  with  reference  to  the  origin  of  the 
earth,  and  used  to  urge  geological  objections  to  the 
so-called  Mosaic  account  of  the  creation.  He  also  ex- 
pressed skepticism  about  miracles,  as  infractions  of 
the  order  of  nature  requiring  much  more  evidence  to 
make  them  credible  than  has  ever  been  produced. 
Such  ideas  seemed  to  the  mother  unspeakably  dread- 
ful, and,  womanlike,  she  was  disposed  to  attribute 


32  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

them  partly  to  some  subtle  influence  emanating  from 
the  eccentric  Uncle  Good,  partly  to  the  antislavery 
agitation,  which  seemed  to  be  fast  destroying  all  rever- 
ence for  the  Church.  Scarcely  a  Sunday  passed  but 
the  sermon  just  heard  or  the  book  last  read  gave  rise 
to  animated  discussion,  which  on  her  part  often  ended 
in  tears.  Since  among  the  evidences  of  Christianity 
miracles  were  most  relied  on  and  most  discussed,  it 
was  almost  inevitable  that  as  time  went  on  the  trouble 
deepened  and  the  skepticism  of  the  doubters  was 
strengthened.  On  the  part  of  the  young  people  there 
was  a  painful  urgency  to  make  a  clear  defense  of  their 
position  to  their  own  minds  at  least,  even  if  they  could 
not  convince  their  parents.  This  was  no  doubt  a  pow- 
erful motive  toward  inquiry  into  the  origin  of  things 
and  the  causes  of  the  natural  processes  going  on  around 
us.  For  example,  the  mother's  arguments  confounded 
the  events  of  the  gospel  miracles  with  the  mysterious 
natural  processes  of  birth  and  death,  of  growth  and 
decay,  and  the  children  were  challenged  to  explain 
any  of  these  mysteries.  Science  studied  under  such 
circumstances  would  not  remain  in  their  eager  minds 
in  the  fragmentary  state  in  which  it  is  apt  to  be  pre- 
sented in  text-books.  Its  elements  tended  toward  co- 
ordination and  organization  into  a  coherent  unity  that 
might  help  one's  conceptions  of  how  the  world  is  made 
and  governed. 

In  such  discussions  the  rationalistic  freethinking 
side  was  always  represented  by  Edward,  and  he  had 
to  bear  the  full  responsibility  of  it.  He  was  often 
told  that  he  was  fast  tending  to  "  infidelity,"  and  lead- 
ing the  other  children  along  with  him ;  and  "  infidel- 
ity "  was  of  course  the  worst  imaginable  form  of  wick- 
edness. The  age  has  fortunately  gone  by  (whatever 


Youth  and  Education.  33 

English  clergymen  may  feel  it  necessary  to  declare 
when  hard  pushed  by  Professor  Huxley)  when  belief 
in  the  historical  character  of  the  "  Gadarene  pig- 
bedevilment,"  or  any  other  miracle  in  the  four  gos- 
pels, was  regarded  by  intelligent  people  as  an  important 
part  of  one's  Christian  faith.  It  is  fast  becoming  diffi- 
cult to  comprehend  the  state  of  mind  which  attached 
the  highest  value  to  the  most  barren  parts  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  visited  with  condemnation  all  attempts 
to  use  one's  reason  and  common  sense  about  that  lit- 
erature as  about  any  other  subject.  One  thing,  how- 
ever, is  clear — the  struggle  involved  in  gaining  one's 
intellectual  freedom  in  those  days  afforded  a  most 
valuable  discipline  for  the  mind  and  character. 

Edward's  freethinking  did  not  make  him  unpopu- 
lar. Unlike  his  father,  whose  plain  speaking  often 
gave  offense,  Edward  could  maintain  any  opinion 
without  irritating  his  antagonists.  Without  being  dis- 
putatious, he  was  fond  of  argument,  but  there  was 
such  disinterested  search  for  truth  in  what  he  said, 
such  readiness  to  admit  facts  that  told  against  him, 
such  utter  absence  of  selfish  desire  to  make  a  point, 
such  genuine  respect  for  the  individuality  of  other 
persons,  that  he  was  the  most  genial  controversialist 
I  ever  knew.  His  powers  of  persuasion  were  of  the 
rarest  order.  Not  long  ago  a  younger  brother,  now 
a  man  of  sixty,  remarked :  "  Edward  always  had  his 
way  with  me.  I  could  not  withstand  him.  If  I  knew 
beforehand  what  he  would  be  at,  and  were  never  so 
certain  that  I  could  not  agree  with  him,  it  was  sure  to 
turn  out  in  the  end  that  I  gave  in  with  perfect  concur- 
rence of  sentiment."  With  such  qualities  Edward 
was  always  the  leader  among  his  comrades,  and  was  a 
favourite  with  all. 


34  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

This  chapter  may  fitly  end  with  a  pleasant  remi- 
niscence in  his  sister's  words : 

Edward's  habit  of  helping  his  mother  resulted  in  great 
handiness  in  domestic  matters.  When  leaving  home  for  a 
day,  his  parents  left  the  care  of  affairs  with  him.  He  pre- 
pared the  meals,  and  took  responsible  charge  of  things.  A 
sufficient  comment  upon  his  management  is  the  fact  that 
his  parents  were  satisfied  with  it,  and  the  children  always 
greatly  enjoyed  such  occasions.  He  was  an  amusing  and 
entertaining  companion — full  of  interesting  explanations, 
kindly  warnings,  merry  stories,  and  lively  songs.  I  think 
he  kept  us  in  tolerable  order,  but  we  certainly  led  a  hap- 
pier life  than  when  our  parents  were  with  us.  I  do  not  re- 
call any  instance  of  rebellion  against  his  authority.  He 
did  not  coddle  us,  nor  was  he  assuming  or  authoritative. 
He  was  simply  faithful  to  the  needs  of  the  hour,  and  from 
morning  till  night  kept  up  our  interest  in  whatever  occu- 
pied his  mind  at  the  time. 


CHAPTER   III. 

YEARS   OF   BLINDNESS. 
1838-1844.     Age,  17-23. 

IN  1838  Edward's  long-cherished  ambition  to  be- 
come an  educated  man  was  in  a  fair  way  to  be  real- 
ized. His  talents,  his  parents  felt  sure,  were  such  as 
to  fit  him  for  a  professional  career,  and  law  was 
thought  of  as  the  profession  which  he  might  in  due 
season  adopt.  The  way  to  the  bar  seemed  clear 
enough.  Other  young  men  in  the  vicinity  no  better 
off  than  he  were  taking  college  courses  of  study,  and 
helping  to  meet  the  expense  by  school-teaching  in 
winter.  But  one  obstacle  to  his  ambition  existed, 
which  unfortunately  was  not  recognized  in  its  full 
seriousness.  His  eyes  were  still  weak,  and  their  con- 
dition should  have  forbidden  the  protracted  studies 
which  he  undertook.  He  entered  the  academy  at 
Gal  way,  Saratoga  County,  New  York,  in  May,  1838. 
The  term  until  the  summer  vacation  was  to  be  four- 
teen weeks,  and  twice  during  that  time  he  had  to  go 
home  with  inflamed  eyes  for  rest. 

His  appearance  at  this  time  is  described  in  the  fol- 
lowing letter  from  one  of  his  fellow-students : 

ANN  ARBOR,  December  sj,  1887. 

Miss  ELIZA  A.  YOUMANS:  In  complying  with  your  kind 
request  to  give  my  recollections  of  your  late  brother,  I  can 

(35) 


36  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

only  wish  that  they  possessed  some  real  value  in  propor- 
tion to  the  usefulness  that  the  faithful  record  of  such  a  life 
must  have  for  all  who  find  themselves  compelled  to  strug- 
gle with  obstacles  seemingly  insurmountable ;  but  such  as 
they  are  I  most  willingly  place  at  your  disposal  in  the  fol- 
lowing sketch : 

In  the  year  1838  a  new  academy  was  opened  under  the 
presidency  of  Professor  Morgan,  at  the  small  village  of 
Galway,  Saratoga  County,  New  York,  and  it  was  there, 
during  the  summer  months  of  that  year,  your  brother  and 
myself  became  schoolmates  together.  As  I  remember  it, 
there  was  nothing  in  the  peculiar  advantages  of  the  school 
or  in  the  character  of  its  teaching  specially  fitted  to  call 
forth  or  develop  any  talent  not  already  struggling  for  spon- 
taneous manifestation  ;  but  to  some  minds  only  opportunity 
is  needed  ;  all  other  help  is  but  adventitious,  and  not  essen- 
tial. Of  such  was  your  brother.  Although  fifty  years  have 
come  and  gone  since  that  time,  I  recall  with  great  distinct- 
ness the  impressions  then  made  upon  me  by  our  brief  asso- 
ciation as  fellow-students,  for  from  the  very  first  there  was 
some  genial  attraction  that  drew  us  together  and  speedily 
ripened  our  intimacy  into  a  warm-hearted  friendship. 
Though  we  were  born  in  the  same  year,  there  was  in  his 
appearance  a  maturity  of  demeanour  and  expression  which 
made  him  seem  my  senior.  He  was  less  boyish  and  more 
grave  than  myself  and  others  of  about  the  same  age. 
Yet  was  there  nothing  austere  or  repellent  in  his  manner; 
on  the  contrary,  he  was  ever  cordial  and  affable,  and  en- 
tered with  zest  into  our  academic  sports  and  jests.  His 
perceptions  of  the  ridiculous  were  keen  and  appreciative. 
When  the  matron's  cockney  English  son-in-law  requested 
us  one  day  to  u  hallow  those  birds  to  henter  the  gate,"  this 
appellation  of  birds  to  some  very  common  barnyard  fowls 
seemed  to  him  such  a  sudden  promotion  that  its  funny 
aspect  fairly  overcame  his  gravity,  and  ever  after  the  sight 
of  those  birds  brought  a  twinkle  into  his -eyes.  In  sportive- 


Years  of  Blindness.  37 

ness  he  and  I  once  thought  to  make  a  fellow-student  the 
innocent  subject  of  a  practical  joke  suggested  by  our  find- 
ing an  old  Independence  ball  invitation.  This  invitation, 
with  its  date  properly  corrected,  was  by  due  course  of  mail 
transmitted  to  one  of  the  lady  teachers,  purporting  to  have 
been  sent  by  our  intended  victim,  and,  as  we  thought,  was 
sure  to  be  returned  at  once  with  a  dignified  if  not  indig- 
nant refusal.  Alas  !  the  lady's  logic  had  not  arrived  at  the 
same  conclusion,  as  we  learned  to  our  consternation  trie 
next  day,  when  the  student  showed  us  a  polite  acceptance 
of  the  invitation  and  vainly  wondered  what  it  all  meant. 
Of  course  we  lost  our  intended  joke ;  but  the  contretemps 
put  the  whole  thing,  as  well  as  ourselves,  into  such  a  ridic- 
ulous attitude  that  we  had  many  a  good  laugh  over  the 
affair,  though  not  at  the  other  student's  expense.  The 
teacher's  tears  of  chagrin  were  a  cause  of  deep  regret  to 
us  both ;  but  our  share  in  the  transaction  prevented  any 
overt  expression  of  sympathy. 

At  that  time  your  brother  was  slight  rather  than  frail  of 
figure,  with  a  somewhat  pallid,  colourless  complexion,  and  a 
perceptible  stoop  in  the  shoulders.  A  weakness  of  the 
eyes  caused  a  partial  closing  of  the  lids  in  order  to  shield 
them  from  the  light,  and  his  manly,  symmetrical  features 
from  this  cause  lost  in  part  their  naturally  frank  and  at- 
tractive expression.  I  believe  his  habits  and  speech  were 
exceptionally  free  from  youthful  improprieties  and  vulgari- 
ty, and  his  intercourse  with  all  showed  the  governing  in- 
fluence of  a  pure  and  generous  nature.  If  I  were  asked 
what  peculiarity  was  most  noticeable  in  him,  I  should  say 
it  was  his  ready  and  apt  use  of  words,  both  in  composi- 
tion and  speech,  which  were  not  quite  the  ordinary  and 
commonplace  forms  of  expression  among  students  and 
young  men  of  his  age.  This  did  not  take  the  appearance 
of  pedantry  or  of  any  conscious  effort  at  display,  but 
rather  of  an  intuitive  love  for  nicety  of  expression  and  a 
resulting  habit  of  selecting  and  treasuring  up  in  memory 


38  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

all  such  strong  words  as  appealed  to  this  peculiar  taste. 
And  does  not  this,  I  may  ask,  seem  almost  prophetic  of 
that  high  place  he  subsequently  attained  as  a  writer,  in 
spite  of  the  small  aid  derived  from  the  schoolroom  and  of 
obstacles  that  would  have  dismayed  a  soul  less  strong  ? 
Scarcely  less  noticeable  also  was  the  ample  storehouse  of 
facts  and  observations  he  had  accumulated  upon  almost 
every  conceivable  subject,  indicating  a  voracious  hunger 
for  information  and  a  natural  ability  to  gratify  it  even  out- 
side the  traditional  means  furnished  by  our  systems  of 
education. 

Having  different  studies  and  classes,  I  am  not  able  to 
speak  of  his  standing  or  proficiency,  except  to  state  that  he 
seemed  a  diligent  scholar  and  deeply  interested  in  the  dis- 
charge of  every  duty.  Between  recitations  it  was  our  wont 
to  seek  the  shelter  and  shade  of  an  open  shed  near  by,  and 
in  the  comfortable  seat  of  a  cutter*  standing  there  in  sum- 
mer quarters  we  passed  many  an  hour  with  our  books  and 
in  the  abandon  of  school-fellow  talk.  He  spoke  often  of 
his  desire  to  fit  himself  for  active  life  with  the  best  educa- 
tional training  in  his  power,  but  expressed  the  fear  that  his 
eyes  would  not  permit  him  to  accomplish  all  he  wished.  As 
I  was  about  to  enter  college,  he  frequently  referred  to  the 
advantages  of  such  an  opportunity,  though  I  do  not  remem- 
ber that  he  ever  expressed  any  intention  to  enter  upon  the 
acquisition  of  what  is  generally  termed  a  "  liberal  educa- 
tion." Its  chief  attraction  to  him  seemed  to  be  in  the  vast 
storehouse  of  science,  literature,  and  general  knowledge  to 
which  a  college  life  was  supposed  to  give  access,  and  in 
which  his  insatiate  thirst  for  information  could  be  fully 
gratified.  With  the  close  of  the  first  term  our  personal  in- 
tercourse was  interrupted,  never  again  to  be  renewed ;  but 

*  For  my  British  readers  this  word  needs  defining.  A  cutter  is  "  a 
small,  light  sleigh,  with  a  single  seat  for  one  or  two  persons,  usually  drawn 
by  one  horse." — Century  Dictionary,  s.  v. 


Years  of  Blindness.  39 

considering  the  brief  duration  of  our  intimacy,  the  impres- 
sions it  made  upon  me  have  remained  singularly  indelible. 
Following  the  usual  practice  of  schoolmates  who  cherish 
some  mutual  regard,  we  subsequently  kept  up  a  brief  cor- 
respondence. I  regret  to  say  that  among  the  relics  of  that 
far-off  epistolary  period  I  can  only  find  two  of  your  broth- 
er's letters. 

That  of  September,  1839,  gives  a  sad  picture  of  his  pro- 
found despondency,  arising  from  ill  health,  disappointed 
hopes,  and  blindness.  To  one  of  his  intensely  active  mind, 
longing  for  the  contest  upon  the  great  arena  of  real  life, 
what  a  marvel  had  it  been  otherwise  !  Yet  did  he  not  utterly 
despair,  but  all  the  days  of  his  appointed  time  would  he 
.wait. 

In  the  letter  of  June  21,  1840,  he  draws  a  vivid  con- 
trast between  his  fortune  and  that  which  had  fallen  to  my 
own  lot,  and  in  it  we  discover  the  glorious  vision  a  col- 
legiate career  spread  out  before  him  while  he  was  left 
"  standing  upon  the  strand  of  earthly  enjoyment,  in  sight 
of  an  eternity  of  tripled,  yea,  quadrupled  misery."  Mani- 
festly, depression  of  spirits  and  mental  suffering  could  no 
further  go,  and  it  is  a  most  pleasant  reflection  for  me  now, 
as  it  was  a  profound  satisfaction  at  the  time,  that  amid  ail 
this  gloom  any  words  of  mine  could  enable  him  to  say  that 
the  time  spent  in  their  perusal  had  been  among  the  happi- 
est moments  of  his  life. 

I  must  here  close  this  imperfect  sketch  of  my  recollec- 
tions of  your  brother.  If  anything  here  recorded  can  aid 
you  in  a  faithful  presentation  of  his  strangely  diversified 
life,  making  it  an  example  and  encouragement  to  any  whom 
misfortune  or  disappointment  may  be  likely  to  overcome,  I 
shall  feel  amply  rewarded ;  and  it  is  with  grateful  satisfac- 
tion I  can  now  turn  from  the  sad  impression  his  letters 
would  otherwise  leave,  to  the  many  subsequent  years  of 
his  active  and  eventful  life  in  a  field  so  congenial  and  so 
near  to  the  ideal  of  his  young  ambition. 


4O  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

Very  sincerely,  and  with  earnest  wishes  for  the  success 
of  the  Memoir,  I  am  yours, 

JOHN  M.  WHEELFR. 

Edward  contrived  to  get  through  the  fall  term  of 
1838  without  any  break,  and  in  November  he  began 
teaching  in  a  district  school  in  North  Greenfield.  The 
schoolhouse  could  not  be  properly  warmed  in  the  fierce 
winter  weather.  The  redhot  stove  in  the  middle  of 
the  room  and  the  cold  currents  everywhere  made  the 
daytime  a  time  of  exposure,  which  the  vicissitudes  of 
food  and  shelter  attendant  upon  "  boarding  around  " 
among  the  farmers  of  the  district  did  not  tend  to 
counteract.  After  six  weeks  Edward  was  obliged  to 
relinquish  his  school  and  go  to  Ballston  Spa  for  treat- 
ment by  a  physician  who  had  some  reputation  as  an 
oculist.  Sharp  caustics  were  applied  to  the  eyelids, 
and  calomel  was  administered  in  large  doses  ;  and  as 
the  patient  was  not  warned  against  exposure  while 
using  this  drug,  he  took  a  severe  cold  which  settled  in 
his  eyes,  ulcerating  one  eyeball  severely.  Sight  never 
returned  to  this  eye  except  to  reveal  a  vague  differ- 
ence between  darkness  and  light,  and  the  other  eye 
became  almost  useless.  After  suffering  cruelly  at  the 
hands  of  the  Ballston  oculist,  hope  of  relief  through 
him  was  abandoned,  and  in  the  spring  of  1839  Edward 
was  brought  home.  His  case  was  serious,  and  for  the 
first  time  he  felt  its  full  seriousness.  He  had  not  yet 
been  aware  that  the  peril  of  blindness  hung  over  him, 
and  the  shock  now  depressed  him  profoundly.  It 
meant  that  it  might  be  his  hard  fate  to  be  shut  out 
from  the  chief  joys  of  life,  never  to  be  able  to  study, 
or  even  to  earn  a  scanty  livelihood  without  painful 
dependence  upon  others.  The  blindness  continued 


Years  of  Blindness.  41 

for  months,  but  there  was  no  cessation  of  mental  work. 
Much  was  done  to  relieve  his  tedium  by  reading  to 
him,  and  the  reading  took  a  wide  range  in  newspa- 
pers and  books — news,  fiction,  verse.  In  agricultural 
journals  he  took  special  interest,  and  he  already  began 
to  apply  his  smattering  of  chemistry  to  the  topics  dis- 
cussed in  them.  Having  spent  his  youth  among 
farmers  who  could  think  clearly  and  independently 
on  moral,  political,  and  religious  questions,  he  was 
not  inclined  to  ascribe  to  any  real  lack  of  mental  ca- 
pacity the  fact  that  they  were  unintelligent  and  un- 
businesslike in  their  methods  of  agriculture.  This 
shortcoming  he  rightly  attributed  to  their  lack  of  ele- 
mentary training  in  science,  and  in  his  youthful  ardour, 
with  his  large  sense  of  the  importance  of  agriculture, 
his  perception  of  what  chemistry  might  do  for  it,  and 
his  genuine  faith  in  the  power  of  education,  he  was 
already  beginning  to  think  it  possible  that,  in  spite  of 
the  failure  of  his  regular  studies,  he  might  succeed  in 
making  himself  useful  in  this  direction. 

Newspapers  then  were  apt  to  contain  articles  such 
as  are  now  more  likely  to  appear  in  magazines — long, 
closely  reasoned,  and  comparatively  well  written.  In 
the  Youmans  family  such  articles,  supplemented  by 
new  pamphlets  and  books  lent  from  hand  to  hand,  fur- 
nished themes  for  earnest  discussion.  One  of  the 
most  intelligent  friends  of  the  family  was  Mr.  Ransom 
Cook,  of  Saratoga,  well  known  as  a  manufacturer  and 
inventor,  and  pleasantly  remembered  by  many  beside 
myself  for  his  gracious  cordiality  of  manner  and  the 
suggestiveness  of  his  racy  conversation.  His  library, 
which  he  placed  quite  at  Edward's  disposal,  contained 
the  standard  treatises  on  science  and  the  mechanical 
arts.  As  a  freethinker,  Mr.  Cook  had  collected  many 

3 


42  Edward  Livingston  Youmam. 

books  of  a  sort  that  Edward,  when  he  had  borrowed 
them,  did  not  think  it  quite  prudent  to  leave  "  lying 
about  the  house."  From  him  was  obtained  the  "  Ves- 
tiges of  Creation,"  which  was  read  to  Edward  in  the 
early  days  of  his  blindness,  and  was  much  talked  of  in 
the  family.  His  sister,  being  always  at  hand,  spent 
much  of  her  time  reading* for  him.  She  thus  soon 
became  his  constant  companion  and  helper,  and  the 
relation  then  established  lasted  until  the  end  of  his  life. 
It  was,  no  doubt,  his  eager  interest  in  all  current  ques- 
tions that  served  to  occupy  his  mind  and  save  him 
from  utter  despondency. 

With  settled  summer  weather  his  health  was  mend- 
ed, and  his  remaining  eye  grew  so  much  better  that  he 
could  walk  about  without  being  led.  In  July  he  was 
able  to  attend  the  famous  Albany  convention  in  which 
the  Liberty  party  was  formed,  and  after  it  was  over, 
instead  of  returning  directly  home  with  his  father  and 
brother,  he  undertook  to  make  a  visit  to  New  York. 
He  went  down  the  river  on  one  of  the  day  steamers, 
and  the  shimmer  of  sunlight  on  the  water  put  out 
what  little  sight  he  had,  so  that  on  arriving  at  the  city 
he  could  not  go  ashore.  He  returned  to  Albany  on 
the  same  boat,  and  contrived  somehow  to  make  his 
way  home. 

This  was  only  one  of  the  first  of  many  relapses  that 
were  to  tantalize  the  eager  young  man  and  sicken  his 
heart  with  hope  deferred.  As  the  autumn  of  1840 
arrived  without  bringing  the  desired  improvement, 
and  one  of  the  neighbours  happened  to  be  going  to 
New  York,  Edward  was  placed  in  his  care  and  es- 
corted to  the  eye  infirmary,  where  Dr.  Delafield  took 
charge  of  his  case.  After  several  weeks,  although 
the  doctor  always  spoke  cheerfully  and  gave  hopes  of 


Years  of  Blindness.  43 

recovery,  he  found  his  eyes  growing  worse ;  and  one 
day,  in  his  impatience,  he  asked  the  doctor's  assistant 
very  pointedly  if  there  was  really  any  chance  of  his 
getting  well  or  not.  With  injunction  of  strict  secrecy 
about  such  a  breach  of  confidence,  the  young  physi- 
cian replied  that  Dr.  Delafield's  encouraging  tone  was 
simply  "a  way  of  his,"  and  that  he  really  considered 
the  case  incurable.  This  opinion  the  kind  but  plain- 
speaking  young  oculist  shared,  and  proceeded  to  for- 
tify with  reasons  of  his  own,  but  Youmans  was  not  yet 
ready  thus  to  abandon  hope.  If  he  had  any  strength  of 
character  or  fertility  of  resource  in  a  dire  emergency, 
the  time  had  now  come  for  its  exercise.  Alone  in  a 
large  city,  amid  surroundings  of  which  he  had  not  the 
slightest  experience,  friendless,  stone-blind,  baffled  in 
his  hopes  of  the  infirmary,  how  should  he  make  a  fur- 
ther attempt  to  get  efficient  medical  aid  ?  Among  his 
fellow-patients  were  half  a  dozen  other  young  men  in 
similar  plight,  all  hopeless  of  benefit  from  a  further 
stay  in  that  place,  all  poor,  one  or  two  actually  penni- 
less and  dependent  on  charity.  One  of  them,  how- 
ever, could  see  well  enough  to  serve  as  pilot  for  the 
others,  and  so  the  whole  party  sallied  forth  into  the 
streets  and  went  about  from  one  oculist's  office  to 
another  in  quest  of  advice.  Youmans,  the  youngest  of 
the  company,  was  relied  upon  as  spokesman  for  all. 
Whether  it  was  he  that  organized  the  movement  or 
not,  one  sees  in  it  the  boldness  of  purpose  and  vigour  of 
execution  that  always  characterized  his  way  of  doing 
things.  We  can  imagine  the  anxiety  with  which  he 
listened,  in  one  office  after  another,  to  the  various 
opinions  offered  as  to  whether  he  was  likely  ever  again 
to  see  the  light  of  day.  Some  of  the  physicians  pro- 
nounced cure  impossible;  one  promised  recovery  on 


44  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

the  sole  condition  of  faith ;  others  contented  them- 
selves with  severely  criticising  the  treatment  he  had 
received.  Among  them  all,  Dr.  Samuel  M.  Elliott 
gave  him  most  encouragement,  and  something  in  his 
manner  inspired  a  confidence  that  turned  out  to  be 
well  grounded  ;  for  through  the  coming  twelve  years 
of  difficult  treatment  the  doctor's  skill  was  never  at 
fault,  nor  his  sympathy  wanting. 

When  their  circuit  among  the  oculists  thus  came 
to  an  end,  Youmans  and  his  fellow-patients  turned  their 
steps  toward  a  boarding-house.  They  were  directed 
to  one  kept  by  a  Mrs.  Cook,  at  the  corner  of  Pearl  and 
Hague  Streets.  She  was  a  humane  and  kindly  woman, 
but  the  struggle  to  keep  up  her  boarding-house  and 
support  her  family  kept  business  considerations,  of 
course,  in  the  foreground.  These  blind  men  could  not 
be  brought  to  her  table ;  so  she  found  for  them  in  her 
basement  some  quarters,  which  they  hailed  with  de- 
light as  a  change  from  the  infirmary.  Since  the  inter- 
view with  Dr.  Elliott  the  party  were  in  high  spirits, 
and  Youmans  created  much  merriment  with  his  droll 
quips  and  sallies.  In  a  few  weeks  all  the  rest  had  left 
Mrs.  Cook's ;  Youmans  remained,  but  not  in  the  base- 
ment. Charmed  with  his  modest  dignity,  his  spark- 
ling conversation,  and  his  witchery  of  manner,  the 
landlady  at  once  became  his  friend.  He  was  accom- 
modated with  a  large  and  comfortable  room,  and 
when  her  daughters  could  find  leisure  for  it  they 
would  read  to  him.  Among  the  boarders  were  some 
bright  young  printers,  and  soon  they  too  became  inter- 
ested in  the  newcomer.  They  brought  him  books 
and  papers,  they  came  to  his  room  and  read  for  him, 
and  always  felt  more  than  rewarded  by  his  shrewd 
comments  and  telling  illustrations.  It  was  here  that 


Years  of  Blindness.  45 

Youmans  first  met  Horace  Greeley — the  beginning 
of  a  warm  friendship. 

Dr.  Elliott  had  expressed  a  belief  that  the  cure 
could  be  effected  in  six  months.  In  saying  this  he 
probably  stretched  a  point,  for  it  was  evident  that  a 
less  hopeful  view  might  prevent  Edward  from  under- 
taking the  treatment.  Edward  felt  that  the  doctor's 
fee  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  dollars,  besides  the  cost 
of  board  in  the  city  for  six  months,  would  be  a  heavy 
burden  for  his  father.  A  longer  stay  would  at  that 
moment  have  seemed  impracticable. 

At  first  the  progress  toward  recovery  seemed 
rapid,  but  painful  and  vexatious  relapses  kept  occur- 
ring. Sometimes  the  patient  would  be  able  to  read 
the  signs  over  shop  doors,  then  for  a  long  time  he 
would  be  totally  blind.  It  thus  gradually  became 
evident  that  years  rather  than  months  might  be 
needed  for  the  cure.  After  the  first  installment  of 
sixty  dollars  had  been  paid  the  doctor  would  not 
accept  any  further  payment  until  the  cure  should  be 
complete ;  and  so  many  years  passed  before  this  result 
was  reached,  and  so  many  occasions  had  there  been 
for  mutual  good  offices,  that  further  payment  was 
never  thought  of. 

Edward's  home  was  with  Mrs.  Cook  throughout 
the  year  1841,  except  now  and  then  in  .the  summer, 
when  he  was  able  to  superintend  the  workmen  upon 
Dr.  Elliott's  estate  on  Staten  Island,  which  he  was  al- 
ways glad  to  do,  for  when  there,  besides  the  welcome 
opportunity  of  earning  his  support,  he  had  healthful 
outdoor  life,  sea  bathing,  and  even  some  horseback 
riding,  and  was  much  improved  thereby.  Neverthe- 
less the  relapses  would  come.  If  he  happened  to  catch 
cold,  however  slightly,  the  congestion  always  seized 


46  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

upon  that  eye.  From  a  state  of  comparative  comfort 
and  self-helpfulness  on  going  to  bed  he  would  often  in 
the  morning  arise  quite  blind  again ;  and  when  this 
happened  at  the  island,  he  had  to  go  back  to  the  city 
and  take  the  treatment  at  the  doctor's  office. 

Early  in  1842  he  left  Mrs.  Cook's  and  boarded  for 
a  time  at  Mrs.  Chipman's,  on  Chambers  Street.  It  was 
here  that  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Walt  Whit- 
man, when  he  was  plain  Mr.  Whitman,  wearing  a  coat 
and  necktie  like  other  people,  and  editing  a  newspaper 
called  the  Aurora,  for  which  Edward  wrote  occasional 
"  Saratoga  correspondence."  In  later  years  Youmans 
always  maintained  that  Walt  was  an  arrant  humbug, 
and  that  his  "  barbaric  yawp  "  and  obtrusive  filthiness 
were  assumed  purely  for  pelf,  after  he  had  found  that 
polite  writing  would  not  pay  his  bills.  Among  the 
friends  made  at  this  time,  and  who  for  many  long, 
weary  years  proved  most  sympathetic  and  helpful, 
was  Mr.  Benjamin  Flanders,  whom  he  met  at  Dr. 
Elliott's  office  undergoing  treatment  for  a  minor  mal- 
ady of  the  eyes.*  Mr.  Flanders  was  a  sailmaker  do- 

*  The  sight  of  any  one  in  trouble  always  moved  Mr.  Flanders  to  help 
him  in  some  way  if  he  could.  Hence  he  sought  Edward's  acquaintance, 
and  at  once  took  a  personal  liking  to  him.  He  was  much  pleased  by 
Edward's  manner,  in  which  at  that  time,  along  with  the  embarrassment 
due  to  blindness,  there  was  unusual  modesty  and  deference  to  others,  asso- 
ciated with  peculiar  energy  of  speech  and  confidence  of  statement.  No 
doubt  the  liberal  opinions  of  the  youth  and  his  ability  to  state  and  defend 
them  also  pleased  Mr.  Flanders,  so  that  when  his  eyes  were  cured  and 
the  two  friends  ceased  to  meet  at  the  doctor's  office  he  sought  Edward  out 
in  his  boarding-house  and  in  the  most  delicate  way  did  much  to  alleviate 
his  circumstances.  His  persistent  kindness  throughout  the  long  years  of 
helpless  dependence  that  were  to  follow  had  much  to  do  in  bringing  about 
the  final  recovery.  In  the  early  years  of  his  stay  in  New  York  Edward 
was  much  alone,  and  suffered  a  great  deal  from  low  spirits.  Often  when 
Mr.  Flanders  found  him  downhearted  he  would  take  him  to  his  home  in 


Years  of  Blindness.  47 

ing  a  large  business,  for  that  was  before  the  time 
when  American  shipping  was  destroyed  by  idiotic 
navigation  laws  and  robber  tariffs.  He  was  interested 
in  Fourierism,  and  as  a  member  of  the  North  Ameri- 
can Phalanx  was  associated  with  Horace  Greeley, 
William  H.  Channing,  Freeman  Hunt,  Edgar  Hicks, 
Richard  H.  Manning,  and  other  prominent  reformers 
of  the  time.  Mr.  Flanders  took  Edward  with  him  to 
social  gatherings  in  Brooklyn  where  these  gentlemen 
were  present  and  where  the  subject  of  the  reorganiza- 
tion of  society  was  a  leading  topic  of  conversation.  At 
these  gatherings  questions  of  reform  were  presented 
in  a  broader  light  and  involved  more  fundamental 
changes  than  the  antislavery  and  temperance  discus- 
sions to  which  Edward  was  accustomed,  and  we  may 
be  sure  that  he  made  the  most  of  these  opportunities. 
He  was  too  heavily  weighted  by  the  consciousness  of 
his  infirmity  to  make  acquaintances  readily  in  such 
mixed  gatherings,  but  he  came  to  know  some  of  Mr. 
Flanders's  more  intimate  associates,  and  we  shall  see 
how  lasting  were  the  friendships  commenced  in  those 
enthusiastic  days  when  the  immediate  and  indefinite 
educability  of  everybody,  mentally  and  morally,  was 
believed  in  without  reserve — when  generous  zeal  be- 
lieved that  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth  were  at 
hand. 

Necessity  had  wrought  in  Edward  that  develop- 
ment of  touch  and  hearing  which  comes  to  all  who 
lose  sight,  and  his  memory,  naturally  very  retentive, 
became  still  stronger.  He  was  able  to  find  his  way 

Brooklyn  for  a  time  and  cheer  him  in  many  ways,  not  the  least  of  which 
was  the  confident  tone  he  always  kept  up  about  Edward's  ultimate  recovery 
of  vision.  Mr.  Flanders  lived  to  see  him  a  successful  author,  and  in  wide 
repute  as  a  popular  scientific  teacher. 


48  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

through  the  less  crowded  streets,  and  sometimes  took 
great  risks  in  venturing  about  alone.*  He  was  often 
driven  to  exposures  which  a  little  money  might  have 
enabled  him  to  avoid,  and  thus  poverty  hindered  and 
jeopardized  his  recovery.  One  of  his  worst  exposures, 
however,  was  connected  with  an  incident  of  which  I 
never  heard  until  after  his  death,  when  I  came  to  put 
together  this  memoir.  In  1842,  as  he  was  picking  his 
way  along  one  of  the  riverside  streets  near  the  edge 
of  a  wharf,  he  heard  a  sudden  splash  in  the  water  and 
cries  for  help  close  by.  Instantly  seizing  a  large  chain 
that  happened  to  be  within  reach,  fastened  at  one  end 
to  a  post  on  the  wharf,  he  let  himself  down  into  the 
water,  got  hold  of  the  drowning  man,  and  kept  him 
up  until  help  came,  thus  saving  his  life.  It  was  mid- 
winter, and  this  stay  of  several  minutes  in  the  freezing 
water  brought  on  a  violent  fever,  which  detained  Ed- 
ward for  nearly  three  months  in  a  hospital,  while  his 
anxious  family  had  no  news  of  him.  It  was  eighteen 
months  before  his  sight  could  be  brought  back  even 
to  the  dim  twilight  condition  it  was  in  at  the  time  of 
the  accident.  This  brave  act  was  just  like  Youmans, 
and  it  was  also  like  him  never  to  speak  of  it. 

A  pleasant  incident  of  his  first  year  in  New  York 
led  shortly  to  results  of  much  consequence.  Some 
time  during  his  stay  at  Mrs.  Cook's  his  watch  needed 
mending,  and  he  was  told  to  take  it  to  Mr.  James 

*  Once  a  man  who  was  carrying  a  plank  on  his  shoulder  on  the  side- 
walk hit  him  with  it  so  violently  that  his  fall  injured  him  seriously.  His 
narrowest  escape  was  one  evening  when,  in  going  from  Mr.  Flanders's  to 
his  home  in  New  York,  he  found  himself  at  the  very  brink  of  the  water 
wall  below  Fulton  Ferry,  where  one  step  more  would  have  precipitated 
him  into  the  East  River.  It  was  not  built  up  then  for  a  considerable  dis- 
tance below  the  present  upper  entrance  to  the  ferry. 


Years  of  Blindness.  49 

Ketcham,  a  watchmaker  living  hard  by.  Mr.  Ketch- 
am  was  a  Quaker,  and  a  genial  old  bachelor  withal. 
That  he  felt  drawn  toward  the  blind  young  man 
was  no  more  than  natural — everybody  felt  drawn 
toward  him ;  there  never  was  such  a  magnetic  crea- 
ture as  Edward  Youmans.  This  circumstance  was 
the  beginning  of  a  pleasant  acquaintance  which  soon 
ripened  into  friendship,  so  that  when  Edward  left  the 
neighborhood  to  go  to  Mrs.  Chipman's  boarding- 
house  he  frequently  spent  a  pleasant  hour  at  the 
watchmaker's  shop.  He  was  invited  and  urged  to 
visit  Mr.  Ketcham's  household,  over  which  a  maiden 
sister  presided.  This  he  for  a  long  time  declined  to 
do,  because  of  the  embarrassment  of  his  blindness  ;  but 
his  hesitation  was  at  length  overcome  and  the  invita- 
tion was  accepted.  The  interest  he  had  awakened  in 
the  brother  was  at  once  shared  by  the  other  members 
of  the  family.  This  was  soon  after  his  escape  from 
the  hospital.  He  was  in  delicate  health,  and  so  help- 
less that  the  Ketchams  insisted  upon  his  making  his 
home  with  them,  where  he  might  have  care  and  atten- 
tion impossible  in  a  boarding-house.  He  was  very 
glad  to  accept  the  proposal,  and  for  many  years  there- 
after his  New  York  home  was  in  the  Ketcham  family. 
Thus,  within  three  years  after  coming  to  New  York, 
blind  and  helpless  as  he  was  most  of  the  time,  he  had 
won  friends  on  every  side,  friends  whose  sympathy 
and  kindness  he  gratefully  remembered  to  the  close  of 
his  life.  Seventeen  years  afterward,  in  1859,  ne  visited 
Detroit  on  a  lecturing  tour ;  Mrs.  Cook  was  then  living 
in  that  city,  and  he  called  upon  her.  During  their 
conversation  many  reminiscences  of  his  years  of  blind- 
ness and  privation  were  recalled,  and  he  thus  alludes 
to  it  in  a  letter  written  at  the  time :  "  I  yearn  for  those 


50  Edivard  Livingston  Youmans. 

old  friends  who  assisted  and  cheered  me  in  days  of 
affliction,  and  I  was  most  glad  to  see  her.  Yet  our 
talk  revived  so  much  that  was  painful  that  I  was  sad 
all  day  afterward." 

Late  in  the  summer  of  1843,  with  his  scanty  vision 
somewhat  improved,  he  went  home  to  Milton  and 
spent  some  pleasant  weeks  while  his  sister  read  to 
him.  In  these  days,  along-  with  the  reading  of  current 
literature,  the  subjects  which  engaged  his  attention 
were  chemistry,  pure  and  applied,  the  geology  of 
soils,  mineralogy,  botany,  physiology,  and  astronomy. 
"  Our  reading,"  says  Miss  Youmans,  "  constantly 
outran  our  knowledge  and  kept  us  on  the  strain  for 
explanations." 

At  this  time  Mr.  Youmans  had  begun  to  support 
himself  by  miscellaneous  literary  work — precarious, 
difficult  to  get,  and  difficult  to  do.  He  early  began 
writing  for  the  press,  which  gave  him  practice  in  com- 
position and  brought  him  into  journalistic  relations 
which  grew  in  extent  and  in  after  years  were  of  the 
utmost  importance.  In  writing  reviews,  popularized 
citations  from  technical  works,  etc.,  his  blindness 
proved  an  almost  insuperable  obstacle.  Aid  from 
friendly  eyes  and  hands  could  of  course  be  only  occa- 
sional. He  had  to  resign  himself  to  spending  weary 
weeks  over  tasks  that  with  sound  eyesight  could  have 
been  dispatched  in  as  many  days.  He  invented  some 
kind  of  writing  machine,  which  held  his  paper  firmly 
and  enabled  his  pen  to  follow  straight  lines  at  proper 
distances  apart.  Long  practice  of  this  sort  gave  his 
handwriting  a  peculiar  character,  which  it  retained  in 
later  years.  When  I  first  saw  it,  in  1863,  it  seemed 
almost  undecipherable  ;  but  that  was  far  from  being 
the  case,  and  after  I  had  grown  used  to  it  I  found  it 


Years  of  Blindness.  5 1 

but  little  less  legible  than  the  most  beautiful  chirogra- 
phy.  The  strokes,  gnarled  and  jagged  as  they  were, 
had  a  method  in  their  madness,  and  every  pithy  sen- 
tence went  straight  as  an  arrow  to  its  mark. 

I  have  already  mentioned  Youmans's  strong  sympa- 
thy with  the  little  party  of  abolitionists,  then  held  in 
such  scornful  disfavour  by  all  other  parties.  He  was 
also  interested  in  the  party  of  temperance,  which,  as 
he  and  others  were  afterward  to  learn,  compounded 
for  its  essential  uprightness  of  purpose  by  indulging 
in  very  gross  intemperance  of  speech  and  action. 
The  disinterestedness  which  always  characterized  him 
was  illustrated  by  his  writing  many  articles  for  a  tem- 
perance paper  which  could  not  afford  to  pay  its  con- 
tributors, although  he  was  struggling  with  such  disad- 
vantages in  earning  his  own  livelihood  and  carrying 
on  his  scientific  studies.  It  was  not  often,  however, 
that  he  was  called  upon  to  work  for  nothing. 

Among  the  friends  whom  he  made  at  the  home  of 
the  Ketchams  was  William  Baner,  a  stereotyper,  and 
in  a  small  way  a  publisher.  Through  him  Mr.  You- 
mans  had  occasional  employment  on  liberal  terms. 
One  day,  for  example,  Baner  sent  to  him  an  old  sea 
captain  who  had  an  original  system  of  the  universe 
wrapped  up  in  a  bandanna  handkerchief ;  this  compre- 
hensive effort  received  grammatical  and  other  revision 
for  a  very  satisfactory  honorarium.  Mr.  Baner  pub- 
lished on  his  own  account  a  history  of  the  life  and 
times  of  Madame  de  Pompadour,  revised  and  edited 
by  his  literary  coadjutor. 

The  rare  conversational  powers  which  from  the 
first  had  interested  so  many  people  in  Mr.  Youmans 
were  constantly  ripening  and  expanding.  Especial 
development  was  observed  in  his  power  of  explaining 


52  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

problems  abstruse  in  themselves  or  unfamiliar  to  his 
h*earers.  Naturally  great,  this  power  of  exposition 
was  developed  until  it  came  to  be  marvelous.  His 
deprivation  of  sight  contributed  to  this.  When  sitting 
silent  and  alone  in  his  room  for  hours  together,  his 
mind  was  always  busy ;  its  activity  was  spurred  by  his 
necessities  and  definitely  directed  by  such  opportuni- 
ties of  work  as  came  to  him.  When  he  had  heard  a 
scientific  article  or  a  chapter  in  a  scientific  book  read, 
whether  he  intended  to  use  it  or  not,  he  would  go 
over  the  entire  statement  or  train  of  reasoning,  search- 
ing out  defects  and  fallacies,  pushing  the  arguments 
to  new  conclusions.  Such  links  as  he  laboriously 
thought  out  between  the  familiar  and  the  unfamiliar 
he  would  repeat  in  talking  over  his  favourite  themes 
to  his  friends,  and  Mr.  Ketcham  was  a  great  help  to 
him  in  this  respect.  He  was  intelligent,  interested  in 
everything,  and  fond  of  argument.  He  had  no  greater 
pleasure  than  in  talking  over  with  Edward  whatever 
subject  was  uppermost  at  the  time.  This  laborious  mas- 
tery of  what  he  learned  gave  Youmans  the  key  to  mas- 
terly exposition  when  that  became  his  task.  Blindness 
and  solitude  had  some  compensations,  though  sadly  in- 
adequate. With  his  impulsive  and  somewhat  impetu- 
ous temperament  they  enforced  a  depth  and  steadiness 
of  reflection  he  might  not  otherwise  have  known,  al- 
though at  the  expense  of  pain  unspeakably  bitter. 

In  the  winter  of  1844  there  was  some  excitement 
in  New  York,  in  educational  circles,  over  the  system 
of  artificial  memory  brought  out  in  a  course  of  lec- 
tures by  a  Frenchman,  one  F.  F.  Goureaud.  For  a 
time  this  system  of  phreno-mnemotechny,  as  it  was 
called,  was  very  popular,  and  its  author  reaped  large 
pecuniary  rewards.  Youmans  incidentally  made  Gou- 


Years  of  Blindness.  53 

reaud's  acquaintance,  and  found  a  class  of  young  men 
preparing  themselves  under  his  guidance  to  become 
teachers  of  his  system.  Having  sight  enough  at  the 
time  to  get  about  alone,  he  enlisted  with  these  pupils, 
simply  with  the  hope  of  gain.  Goureaud  had  applied 
his  system  to  all  the  important  dates  of  secular  and 
ecclesiastical  history,  and  these  had  to  be  learned  by 
the  young  teachers  as  illustrations  to  their  audiences 
of  the  power  of  the  mnemonic  system.  Youmans 
presently  went  home  to  Milton,  where  he  could  have 
the  help  of  others'  eyes,  and  began  memorizing  long 
lists  of  biblical  and  political  dates.  This  labour  was 
soon  accomplished,  and  he  taught  his  first  class  in 
Saratoga.  He  could  not  read  the  text-book,  but  for- 
tunately his  sight  was  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  read 
a  few  notes  printed  in  large  characters  upon  slips  of 
paper  .concealed  within  it.  He  had  no  pleasure  in  the 
work  for  its  own  sake,  but  he  was  happy  to  be  able 
to  earn  something,  and  for  several  months  he  taught 
these  classes  at  intervals  in  neighbouring  towns.  The 
topics  to  which  Goureaud  applied  the  system  had  for 
him  little  importance.  From  the  first  he  began  a  list 
of  his  own,  made  up  of  the  dates  of  inventions  and 
discoveries.  This  was  congenial  work,  and  he  spent 
all  his  leisure  in  collecting  and  memorizing  facts  of  this 
sort.  As  his  list  grew,  and  was  marked  off  into  cen- 
turies and  classified  according  to  subjects,  he  became 
more  and  more  interested  in  the  growth  of  knowledge, 
and  especially  in  the  progress  of  the  sciences  and  their 
successive  dependence  one  upon  another.  He  was 
fairly  successful  in  teaching,  but  in  this  itinerant  life 
he  often  took  severe  colds,  with  consequent  relapses 
into  blindness,  and  so  he  had  to  abandon  the  work. 
But  he  kept  up  the  study  of  scientific  progress  with 


54  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

increasing  interest,  using  this  mnemonic  system  to  fix 
dates  in  memory,  and  throughout  life  he  found  it  of 
service  in  remembering  facts  expressed  in  figures. 

Amid  all  the  earning  of  daily  bread  and  butter  and 
all  the  visits  to  Dr.  Elliott's  office,  Youmans  kept  con- 
stantly in  mind  the  theme  of  agricultural  chemistry. 
Railroad  development  had  not  then  made  it  easy  to 
forsake  old  land  for  new ;  at  Milton,  as  elsewhere 
throughout  the  older  settlements  of  the  country,  the 
main  question  was  how  to  get  the  most  out  of  long- 
tilled  soil.  His  visits  at  home  always  brought  this 
problem  sharply  before  him.  His  reading  was  discur- 
sive, but  his  interest  always  came  back  to  the  science 
which  could  ease  his  father's  toil  and  increase  the 
small  gains  of  his  industry.  In  the  spring  of  1844 
Liebig's  Agricultural  Chemistry  was  read  to  him.  It 
opened  up  a  new  world  to  his  mind.  During  the 
previous  year  his  sister  had  been  trying  to  fit  herself 
to  give  him  aid  by  attending  a  course  of  chemical 
lectures  delivered  by  Prof.  Mather  in  Fairfield,  N.  Y. 
The  knowledge  thus  acquired  was  to  be  brought  to  a 
severe  test.  She  was  plied  with  questions  regarding 
obscure  or  ambiguous  statements  met  in  the  text- 
books. Edward  would  never  pass  a  definition  or 
term  he  did  not  understand,  and  so  there  were  perpet- 
ual interruptions  for  consultation  of  dictionaries  and 
works  of  reference.  He  was  full  of  comment  and  sug- 
gestion as  the  reading  went  on,  and  when  it  was  ended 
he  would  sit  quietly  for  hours  absorbed  in  thought. 

Sometimes  there  were  days — and  rarely,  perhaps, 
a  week  or  so — when  he  could  see  well  enough  to  go 
about  and  superintend  work.  He  was  eager  to  put 
his  scientific  knowledge  into  effect,  and  such  success 
as  attended  experiments  in  drainage,  fertilizing,  or 


Years  of  Blindness.  5  5 

new  crops,  undertaken  at  his  instance,  made  him 
jubilant.  During  one  visit  at  home  he  had  muck 
spread  with  excellent  effect  on  the  farm's  thin,  sandy 
soil.  At  another  time  he  introduced  a  hydraulic  ram, 
the  first  ever  known  in  that  neighborhood.  Among 
other  household  improvements  of  his  were  a  bath- 
house and  an  ice-house,  well  planned  and  well  built. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

YEARS    OF    BLINDNESS   (Continued}',     THE    CLASS-BOOK    OF 
CHEMISTRY. 

1845-1851.     Age,  24-30. 

IN  the  summer  of  1846  Mr.  Youmans  had  a  long 
period  of  total  blindness,  and  two  members  of  the 
Ketcham  household,  who  rendered  him  much  service 
in  reading  and  in  leading  him  through  the  streets, 
were  obliged  in  the  autumn  to  leave  New  York.  He 
now  wrote  to  his  sister,  asking  her  if  she  could  come 
to  New  York  to  set  free  his  friends  from  their  care  of 
him,  and  to  aid  him  in  some  projected  literary  work. 
She  went  to  him  at  once,  and  was  pleased  to  find,  not- 
withstanding the  despondent  tone  of  his  letters,  that 
his  personal  charm  had  drawn  about  him  so  many 
helpful  friends. 

He  had  several  literary  projects  to  lay  before  his 
sister,  the  chief  of  which  was  a  history  of  progress  in 
discovery  and  invention,  and  upon  this  book  work 
was  forthwith  begun.  Despite  all  obstacles,  he  had 
year  by  year  contrived  to  pick  up  a  good  deal  of  in- 
formation regarding  scientific  progress  all  along  the 
line ;  and  the  themes  which  he  now  discussed  with 
most  animation  were  those  suggested  by  modern 
geology  and  the  nebular  theory.  Are  Nature's  laws 
uniform  ?  Is  the  universe  vastly  older  than  has  been 
supposed?  These  were  grave  questions  to  a  man 

(56) 


EDWARD    L.  YOUMANS 

AT   THE    AGE   OF    THIRTY 
From  a  photograph  taken  in  1851 


The  Class-Book  of  Chemistry.  57 

brought  up  to  regard  the  Bible  not  only  as  the  au- 
thoritative basis  of  religion,  but  also  as  absolutely 
correct  in  its  science.  His  thought  upon  these  sub- 
jects was  greatly  stimulated  by  the  first  lectures  de- 
livered in  New  York  by  Professor  Agassiz.  To  these 
lectures,  introductory  to  the  study  of  natural  history, 
Miss  Youmans  escorted  her  brother  soon  after  her 
arrival  in  the  city.  They  were  delivered  to  crowded 
audiences  in  the  hall  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons,  in  Crosby  Street.  Every  fitting  occasion 
in  the  course  of  the  lectures  was  used  by  Agassiz  to 
illustrate  his  favourite  conception  of  the  truths  of 
science  as  the  thoughts  of  God.  People  were  so 
eager  to  hear  him  express  an  opinion  on  the  develop- 
ment theory,  that  in  his  sixth  lecture  he  felt  con- 
strained to  turn  aside  from  his  systematic  exposition, 
and  say: 

But  with  the  progress  of  species,  as  we  find  them  in 
different  geological  strata,  the  question  is,  Can  we  find  in 
Nature  external  causes  which  will  produce  these  changes  ? 
And,  again,  Can  we  refer  these  successive  appearances  of 
different  types  to  the  influences  of  external  causes  ?  I  say 
No ;  because,  since  man  has  studied  Nature,  he  has  never 
seen  any  species  modified  under  external  influences. 

And  again: 

These  views — to  which  I  shall  recur  when  I  come  to 
speak  of  the  position  of  man  in  Nature,  and  of  his  relations 
to  the  animal  kingdom — disagree  entirely  with  the  views, 
and  have  not  the  slightest  alliance  with  the  views,  of  a 
work  which  is  very  much  spoken  of  [The  Vestiges  of  Crea- 
tion], but  which  I  consider  entirely  unworthy  of  notice  by 
any  serious  scientific  man,  because  it  is  made  up  of  old- 
fashioned  views  which  have  been  brought  before  the  notice 


58  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

of  the  public  for  half  a  century  by  the  French  school,  and 
are  supported  only  by  antiquated  assertions,  and  by  no 
means  by  facts  scientifically  ascertained.  It  must  be  owing 
to  some  particular  circumstance  that  this  work  has  been  so 
much  noticed,  because  really  it  is  not  worthy  of  critical 
examination  by  a  serious  scientific  man. 

This  criticism  of  The  Vestiges  is  in  the  main  cor- 
rect and  well  deserved  ;  yet  I  suspect  that  Youmans 
already  felt  that  somewhere  in  all  that  heap  of  chaff 
there  was  a  sound  and  sturdy  kernel  of  truth.  Sir 
Charles  Lyell  had  in  1830  shown  how  enormous  geo- 
logic effects  are  wrought  by  the  cumulative  action 
of  slight  and  unobtrusive  causes ;  and  this,  which  had 
so  much  to  do  with  turning  men's  minds  toward  some 
conception  of  evolution,  was  not  without  its  effect 
upon  Youmans.  Full  illustrated  reports  of  Agassiz's 
lectures  were  published  in  the  Tribune,  and  were  read 
and  re-read  to  him  and  carefully  pondered  ;  and  from 
this  time  the  tendency  of  his  thinking  was  more  and 
more  toward  the  development  theory.* 

The  project  for  a  history  of  progress  in  discovery 
and  invention  had  been  suggested  by  the  dates  in 
Goureaud's  mnemotechnical  system.  Eschewing  the 
deeds  of  popes,  kings,  and  emperors,  the  dates  of 
sieges,  battles,  and  massacres,  Youmans  was  intent  on 
weaving  into  a  connected  story  the  triumphs  of  ob- 
servers, explorers,  experimenters,  and  philosophers. 
At  once  brother  and  sister  began  the  work  of  gather- 

*  In  this  connection  I  can  not  refrain  from  adding  that  in  my  own  case 
the  immediate  cause  which  drove  me  to  the  development  theory  was  the 
mental  reaction  experienced  in  reading  Agassiz's  arguments  against  that 
theory  in  his  Essay  on  Classification,  in  1859,  shortly  before  Darwin's  book 
was  published. 


The  C lass-Book  of  Chemistry.  59 

ing  and  arranging  materials.  Every  day  they  paid 
long  visits  to  the  public  libraries  to  consult  authorities 
and  make  extracts.  In  those  days  New  York  was  no 
larger  than  Buffalo  is  now,  and  its  public  libraries 
were  near  together.  The  Mercantile  Library  was  on 
Nassau  Street,  the  Library  of  the  American  Institute 
on  Chambers  Street,  the  Society  Library  on  the  cor- 
ner of  Broadway  and  Franklin  Street.  Sometimes  the 
needed  book  was  not  to  be  found  in  any  of  these 
places,  and  recourse  would  be  had  to  the  book-stores. 
Sometimes  those  who  had  books  to  sell  were  unwill- 
ing to  lend  them,  even  in  a  good  cause ;  but  this  was 
not  always  the  case.  One  morning,  on  their  round  of 
calls,  Miss  Youmans  led  her  brother  into  D.  Appleton 
&  Co.'s  store,  then  on  Broadway  below  the  City  Hall, 
in  quest  of  a  volume.  Mr.  \\^illiam  H.  Appleton  at 
once  offered  him  the  loan  of  it,  and  of  any  other  book 
he  might  want.  He  frequently  availed  himself  of  the 
privilege  so  kindly  extended,  with  welcome  saving  to 
his  slender  purse.  That  chance  visit,  as  we  shall  see, 
was  a  capital  incident  in  Youmans's  life,  and  the  Ap- 
pletons  now  look  back  upon  it  as  one  of  the  most 
auspicious  events  in  the  annals  of  their  firm. 

After  several  months  of  hard  work,  when  the  his- 
tory was  well  on  its  way  to  completion,  Youmans 
learned  to  his  deep  chagrin  that  Mr.  George  Putnam, 
the  publisher,  had  just  brought  out  a  similar  book — 
The  World's  Progress.  After  recovering  from  this 
bitter  disappointment,  he  resumed  his  usual  round  of 
literary  work  and  scientific  study.  Somewhat  more 
than  two  years  ran  uneventfully  on.  Then,  at  the 
close  of  1849,  a  combination  of  untoward  circum- 
stances plunged  him  into  the  deepest  despondency  of 
his  life.  His  relapses  into  total  blindness  became 


60  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

longer,  without  apparent  cause  either  in  exposure  or 
in  lack  of  medical  care.  Events  at  home  were  such 
as  to  make  a  man  of  his  strong  family  affections  most 
anxious.  His  father  had  suffered  serious  loss  by  fire, 
and  three  of  his  brothers  had  gone  to  the  far  West, 
seeking  opportunities  denied  them  in  rural  New  York. 
To  his  young  imagination  the  remote  and  untried 
West  had  perhaps  more  of  evil  than  good  in  it  for 
such  adventurous  spirits  as  might  brave  its  perils. 
Troubled  and  perplexed,  what  wonder  that  the  blind 
man's  courage  should  for  a  moment  desert  him  ? 

"  I  must  give  up  this  struggle  ;  it's  no  use  going  on 
in  this  way ;  my  case  is  hopeless,"  he  would  say,  bid- 
ding his  sister  return  home  and  leave  him  to  his  fate. 
For  days  and  weeks  his  despair  continued,  and  he 
would  make  no  effort  to*  go  on  with  work  of  any  kind.* 

*  When  it  is  remembered  that  before  he  had  been  with  Dr.  Elliott  a  year 
he  had  advanced  as  far  toward  recovery  as  ever  he  had  done  in  the  ten 
years  following,  it  does  not  seem  strange  that  he  should  at  last  lose  heart. 
Long  before  this  time  many  of  his  friends  had  become  quite  hopeless  of 
his  recovery,  and  even  his  mother,  one  of  the  last  to  give  up  the  case,  at 
length  undertook  to  reconcile  him  to  a  life  of  blindness.  "  Nothing  can 
be  worse,"  she  would  say  to  him,  "  than  these  endless  alternations  of  hope 
and  despair.  If,  in  all  the  fifteen  years  you  have  been  struggling  with  dis- 
ease, the  only  gain  has  been  brief  intervals  of  partial  seeing — intervals  that 
continually  become  rarer  and  shorter,  while  the  subsequent  lapse  into 
blindness  grows  harder  and  harder  to  bear — how  much  happier  you  would 
be  to  give  it  up  and  adapt  yourself  to  the  circumstances."  She  instanced 
blind  men  who  were  leading  happy,  useful  lives,  and  assured  her  son  that 
he  could  always  depend  upon  the  affection  and  devotion  of  his  family  and 
friends. 

In  after  years,  when  the  subject  was  referred  to,  he  always  said  that  he 
never  quite  ceased  to  expect  recovery.  But  there  were  periods  when  it 
seemed  to  his  friends  that  he  had  lost  all  hope.  At  these  times  he 
shunned  society,  even  that  of  his  nearest  companions.  He  would  some- 
times lock  the  door  of  his  chamber  and  remain  for  hours,  and  even  days, 
in  solitude.  It  seemed  as  if  he  shrank  even  from  sympathy.  Worry  always 


The  Class-Book  of  Chemistry.  61 

At  last,  a  reaction  came,  and  he  slowly  lifted  himself 
out  of  the  slough  of  despond.  To  this  one  or  two 
favouring  circumstances  contributed.  His  sister  se- 
cured what  for  those  times  was  a  well-paid  engage- 
ment as  teacher,  with  quite  enough  incidental  leisure 
to  act  as  his  amanuensis  and  reader.  His  brother 
Earle  sent  good  news  of  his  prosperity  in  California, 
and  as  an  earnest  thereof  inclosed  a  generous  remit- 
tance. Dr.  Elliott,  who  had  never  wavered  in  his 
sincere  assurances  that  his  patient  would  ultimately 
recover,  offered  him  a  lodging  at  his  office,  where  he 
could  practice  sundry  economies.  The  office  con- 
tained chemical  apparatus  available  for  Miss  You- 
mans's  experiments.  In  the  district  school  at  Milton, 
three  years  before,  she  had  gained  a  slight  experience 
in  chemical  work,  using  the  water  pail  as  a  trough,  and 
collecting  gases  in  bottles,  but  she  had  little  knowl- 
edge and  less  skill  in  handling  apparatus.  Her  brother 
had  long  wished  that  her  chemical  education  should 
proceed  further,  but  where  was  the  opportunity  ?  It 
came  at  last  through  Dr.  Antisell,  an  Irish  refugee  of 
'48,  who  had  come  to  New  York  and  established  a 
laboratory  as  a  teacher  of  chemistry  at  the  corner  of 
Elm  and  Grand  Streets.  He  had  enough  of  the  spirit 
of  revolution  and  reform  to  open  the  first  laboratory 
in  the  city  that  admitted  women.  Every  Saturday 
Miss  Youmans  spent  several  hours  at  work  under  the 
doctor's  eye.  In  the  evening  she  described  and  ex- 
made  his  eyes  worse.  When  at  last  he  did  in  a  measure  recover  sight,  the 
medical  treatment  was  just  the  same  that  it  had  been  from  the  first.  The 
exhilaration  attendant  upon  the  success  of  his  literary  work  was  the  begin- 
ning of  the  amendment.  He  believed,  and  the  doctor  was  sure,  that  the 
same  might  have  happened  years  before  if  an  evil  fate  had  not  waited 
upon  his  first  efforts  at  self-support. 


62  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

plained  to  her  brother  what  she  had  been  doing-. 
These  studies  were  intended  to  be  preliminary  to  the 
analysis  of  soils,  but  by  the  time  she  was  able  to  make 
such  analysis  Mr.  Youmans  had  become  convinced 
that  they  were  of  no  value  in  practical  agriculture. 
In  the  course  of  his  pondering  over  chemical  facts 
which  he  was  obliged  to  take  at  second  hand,  it  oc- 
curred to  him  that  most  of  the  pupils  in  common 
schools  who  studied  chemistry  were  practically  no 
better  off.  It  was  easy  enough  for  schools  to  buy 
text-books,  but  difficult  for  them  to  provide  labora- 
tories and  apparatus ;  and  it  was  much  easier  withal 
to  find  teachers  who  could  ask  questions  out  of  a  book 
than  those  who  could  use  apparatus  if  provided.  It 
was  customary,  therefore,  to  learn  chemistry  by  rote ; 
or,  in  other  words,  pupils'  heads  were  crammed  with 
unintelligible  statements  about  things  with  queer 
names — such  as  manganese  or  tellurium — which  they 
had  never  seen,  and  would  not  know  if  they  were  to 
see  them.  It  occurred  to  Youmans  that,  if  visible 
processes  could  not  be  brought  before  pupils,  at  any 
rate  the  fundamental  conceptions  of  chemistry  might 
be  made  clear  by  means  of  diagrams.  He  began  de- 
vising diagrams  in  different  colours,  to  illustrate  the 
diversity  in  the  atomic  weights  of  the  principal  ele- 
ments, and  the  composition  of  the  more  familiar  com- 
pounds. At  length,  by  uniting  his  diagrams,  he  ob- 
tained a  comprehensive  coloured  chart  exhibiting  the 
outlines  of  the  whole  scheme  of  chemical  combination 
according  to  the  binary  or  dualist  theory  then  in 
vogue. 

These  diagrams  elicited  much  interest  among  his 
friends.  One  of  them  (Mr.  J.  R.  Burdsall)  was  a  drug- 
gist and  dealer  in  patent  medicines,  whose  advertise- 


The  Class- Book  of  Chemistry.  63 

ments  Youmans  had  often  written  for  a  liberal  hon- 
orarium. When  the  diagrams  had  been  united  in  a 
chart  Mr.  Burdsall  became  enthusiastic.  He  declared 
that  it  made  clear  to  his  mind  chemical  facts  and  laws 
which  he  had  never  before  understood.  It  was  cer- 
tain, he  said,  that  a  chart  so  instructive  to  him  would 
be  equally  so  to  others,  and  that  it  would  have  a  large 
sale  if  published.  He  urged  Youmans  to  seek  a  pub- 
lisher at  once,  and  offered  him  five  hundred  dollars  for 
an  interest  of  one  fifth  in  the  enterprise.  The  advice 
and  offer  were  promptly  accepted,  and  the  cash  was 
applied  in  getting  the  chart  engraved.  Before  the 
engraving  was  finished  the  chart  was  put  on  exhibi- 
tion at  the  American  Institute  Fair,  then  held  in  Castle 
Garden.  Its  author  prepared  a  brief  primer  of  ex- 
planation and  tied  it  to  the  chart  roller,  placing  his 
exhibit  on  a  halfway  landing  of  one  of  the  main  stair- 
cases. This  chart,  when  published,  was  a  great  suc- 
cess. It  not  only  facilitated  the  acquirement  of  clear 
conceptions,  but  it  was  suggestive  of  new  ideas.  It 
proved  very  popular,  and  kept  the  field  until  the 
binary  theory  was  overthrown  by  the  modern  doctrine 
of  substitution,  which  does  not  lend  itself  so  readily  to 
graphic  treatment. 

The  success  of  the  chemical  chart  led  to  the  writ- 
ing of  a  text-book  of  chemistry.  Friends  urged  that 
such  a  book  was  needed  to  accompany  the  chart,  and 
letters  began  to  come  in  from  different  parts  of  the 
country  with  a  similar  request.  The  idea  took  root 
in  Youmans's  mind,  but,  as  usual,  he  had  more  than 
one  task  in  hand.  He  devoted  part  of  every  day  to 
writing  a  text-book  of  arithmetic,  wherein  the  exam- 
ples were  to  introduce  the  constants  of  science  instead 
of  the  usual  commercial  terms.  When  his  work  was 


64  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

nearly  ready  for  the  press  he  learned,  from  a  review 
in  one  of  the  morning  papers,  that  Horace  Mann  had 
just  published  an  arithmetic  on  precisely  the  same 
plan.  His  disappointment  at  being  thus  a  second  time 
forestalled  was  very  keen.  But  there  was  much  con- 
solation in  the  remarkable  popularity  of  the  chemical 
chart,  and  he  made  up  his  mind  to  write  the  desired 
chemical  text-book.  He  attended  Dr.  J.  W.  Draper's 
lectures  on  chemistry  and  physiology,  and  always 
cordially  acknowledged  his  indebtedness,  for  method 
as  well  as  for  facts,  to  that  eminent  teacher.  Of  refer- 
ence books  he  gathered  all  that  he  could  find  that 
were  of  real  authority.  These,  after  they  had  been 
read  to  him,  he  would  ponder  over  and  digest  for 
hours  together.  At  length,  filled  with  his  subject,  he 
began  to  dictate  his  book. 

Miss  Ketcham,  at  this  time,  chiefly  at  his  instance, 
had  taken  a  large  five-story  boarding-house  at  49  Cliff 
Street.  Here,  on  the  fourth  floor,  he  occupied  a  back 
bedroom,  about  eight  feet  by  twelve.  Opposite  the 
door  was  a  large  west  window,  and  under  this  was  a 
hinged  shelf,  which  could  be  let  down  when  not  in 
use.  Little  space  was  left  for  moving  about,  although 
bedstead,  washstand,  bureau,  and  chairs  were  of  the 
severely  simple  type  of  furniture.  During  working 
hours  books  of  reference  and  manuscript  covered 
every  inch  of  shelf  and  bed.  At  night  all  had  to  be 
neatly  gathered  up  and  put  away.  Practice  had  made 
our  author,  naturally  a  tidy  man,  very  expert  in  stow- 
age and  in  finding  things  exactly  where  he  had  placed 
them. 

His  idea  of  the  kind  of  book  he  wished  to  write 
was  distinct ;  he  felt  an  enthusiasm  for  natural  knowl- 
edge, and  meant  to  arouse  that  enthusiasm  in  others. 


The  Class-Book  of  Chemistry.  65 

With  a  vivid  recollection  of  his  Milton  school,  he  de- 
sired to  make  a  book  acceptable  to  just  such  boys  and 
girls  as  had  in  years  gone  by  sat  on  benches  at  his 
side.  They  and  thousands  like  them— farmers'  sons 
and  daughters — were  surrounded  every  day  of  their 
lives  by  chemical  phenomena  which  would  interest 
them  deeply  if  understood.  Current  text-books  were, 
he  knew,  unfit  for  their  purpose  ;  they  were  dry,  tech- 
nical, destitute  of  sympathy  with  young  minds,  and 
oblivious  of  their  ways  of  looking  at  things.  As  a 
rule  their  authors  made  a  perfunctory  circuit  of  all 
the  sciences,  and  turned  out  a  series  of  class  books  in 
the  true  style  of  a  mechanic  of  the  pen — work  little 
better  than  cataloguing  or  almanac-making.  You- 
mans  felt  that  chemistry  ought  to  be  made  as  popu- 
lar as  physics,  or  natural  philosophy,  as  it  was  then 
called ;  for  this  he  found  his  chart  prepared  the  way 
by  its  easily  understood  pictures.  His  plan  of  work 
was,  first  of  all  to  make  himself  familiar  with  what 
each  authority  had  written  upon  the  topic  in  hand. 
He  would  then  slowly  elaborate  such  a  statement  as 
he  thought  best  suited  to  his  purpose.  The  chemical 
elements  were  described  briefly  and  plainly,  omitting 
the  tedious  accounts  of  apparatus  and  complex  reac- 
tions which  filled  the  current  books.  Instead  of  these 
bare  details,  every  fact  was  presented  in  its  relation 
to  law,  every  step  in  the  progress  of  his  chapters  was 
systematically  linked  to  the  next.  Chemistry  had  not 
then  acquired  its  present  wealth  and  diversity  of  spe- 
cialization. In  a  volume  of  three  hundred  and  forty 
pages  he  was  able  not  only  to  give  the  substance  of 
the  current  inorganic  chemistry,  but  to  include  chap- 
ters wThich  summarized  the  chemistry  of  plant  and 
animal  life.  In  carrying  out  his  method  of  approach- 


66  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

ing  the  unfamiliar  through  the  familiar,  he  drew  his 
illustrations  from  everyday  toil  and  common  pro- 
cesses— from  farming,  cooking,  washing,  the  manufac- 
ture of  sugar,  starch,  vinegar,  and  soap.  He  sought 
to  open  the  eyes  of  young  people  to  the  scientific 
significance  of  surroundings  usually  too  near  to  be 
noticed  ;  he  wished  to  awaken  their  interest  in  nature, 
that  they  might  not  only  learn  how  to  economize 
drudgery,  but  also  get  more  wholesome  enjoyment 
out  of  life. 

In  composition  Youmans's  methods  were  labo- 
rious. He  never  had  so  fault-finding  a  critic  as  him- 
self. Revision  followed  revision,  and  emendations 
and  corrections  covered  every  page  of  his  copy. 
When  at  length  several  chapters  were  finished  they 
were  sent  to  the  Appletons  for  the  judgment  of  their 
"  reader,"  Mr.  E.  P.  Tenney,  and  the  decision  was 
awaited  with  much  anxiety.  It  was  very  favourable. 

These  pages  give  promise  of  an  excellent  work  on 
chemistry.  The  author  evidently  understands  the  science, 
and  possesses  a  clear,  logical  mind.  His  manner  of  pre- 
senting the  various  subjects  is  quite  full,  and  his  thoughts 
are  practical  and  such  as  can  not  fail  to  make  a  striking 
impression  on  the  youthful  mind.  The  "atomic  theory" 
and  the  subject  of  chemical  combination  are  not  more 
clearly  handled  in  the  works  of  either  Silliman,  father  or 
son.  More  attention  should  be  paid  to  punctuation. 

Thus  encouraged,  the  young  author  went  on  and 
finished  his  book  in  high  spirits.  His  introduction,  as 
in  all  his  books,  was  written  with  especial  care,  for  he 
understood  the  importance  of  making  a  favourable 
impression  at  the  start.  If  we  consider  the  date  when 
this  first  edition  of  the  Chemistry  was  written,  and  the 


The  Class-Book  of  Chemistry.  67 

author's  experience  up   to   that   time,  the   following 
passage  from  the  introduction  is  very  interesting : 

Among  the  various  occupations  which  require  a  knowl- 
edge of  chemistry  to  be  successfully  carried  on,  that  most 
noble,  useful,  and  universal  of  all  human  pursuits,  agricul- 
ture, stands  prominent.  The  farm  is  a  great  laboratory, 
and  all  those  changes  in  matter  which  it  is  the  farmer's 
chief  business  to  produce  are  of  a  chemical  nature.  He 
breaks  up  and  pulverizes  his  soil  with  plough,  harrow,  and 
hoe  for  the  same  reason  that  the  practical  chemist  powders 
his  minerals  with  pestle  and  mortar — namely,  to  expose  the 
materials  more  perfectly  to  the  action  of  chemical  agents. 
The  field  can  only  be  looked  upon  as  a  chemical  manufac- 
tory ;  the  air,  soil,  and  manures  are  the  farmer's  raw  mate- 
rials, and  the  various  forms  of  vegetation  are  the  products 
of  his  manufacture.  The  farmer  who  raises  a  bushel  of 
wheat  or  a  hundredweight  of  flax  does  not  fabricate  them 
out  of  nothing  ;  he  performs  no  miraculous  work  of  crea- 
tion, but  it  is  by  taking  up  a  certain  definite  portion  of  his 
raw  material  and  converting  it  into  new  substances  through 
the  action  of  natural  agents;  just  as  those  substances  are 
again  manufactured  in  the  one  case  into  bread  and  in  the 
other  into  cloth.  When  a  crop  is  removed  from  the  field 
certain  substances  are  taken  away  from  the  ground  which 
differ  with  different  kinds  of  plants;  and  if  the  farmer 
would  know  exactly  what  and  how  much  his  field  loses  by 
each  harvest,  and  how  in  the  cheapest  manner  that  loss 
may  be  restored,  chemistry  alone  is  capable  of  giving  him 
the  desired  information.  To  determine  the  nature  and 
properties  of  his  soil,  and  its  adaptation  to  various  plants, 
and  the  best  methods  of  improving  it ;  to  economize  his 
natural  resources  of  fertility ;  to  test  the  purity  and  value 
of  commercial  manures  and  of  beds  of  marl  and  muck ;  to 
mingle  composts  and  adapt  them  to  special  crops;  to  im- 
prove the  quality  of  grains  and  fruits;  to  rear  and  feed 


68  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

stock  and  conduct  the  dairy  in  the  best  manner — farmers 
require  a  knowledge  of  this  science.  Nor  can  they  as  a 
class  afford  to  be  much  longer  without  it;  for  it  has  always 
been  found  that  the  application  of  scientific  principles  to 
any  branch  of  industry  puts  power  into  the  hands  of  the 
intelligent  to  drive  ignorance  from  the  field  of  competi- 
tion ;  so  that,  as  discoveries  multiply  and  information  is 
diffused,  those  farmers  who  decline  to  inquire  into  the 
principles  which  govern  their  vocation,  or  who  prefer  the 
study  of  politics  to  that  of  agriculture,  will  have  occasion 
to  groan  more  deeply  than  ever  over  the  unprofitableness 
of  their  business. 

The  superiority  of  natural  sciences  over  all  other  ob- 
jects of  study,  to  engage  the  attention  and  awaken  the 
interest  of  pupils,  is  conceded  as  a  fact  of  experience  by 
the  ablest  teachers.  This  can  not  be  otherwise;  for  the 
infinite  wisdom  of  the  Creator  is  nowhere  so  perfectly  dis- 
played as  in  the  wonderful  adaptation  which  exists  between 
the  young  mind  and  the  natural  world  with  which  it  is 
encompassed.  On  one  hand,  there  is  the  realm  of  Nature, 
endless  in  the  variety  of  its  objects,  indescribable  in  its 
beauty,  immutable  in  its  order,  boundless  in  its  beneficence, 
and  ever  admirable  in  the  simplicity  and  harmony  of  its 
laws;  on  the  other,  there  is  the  young  intellect,  whose 
earliest  trait  is  curiosity,  which  asks  numberless  questions, 
pries  into  the  reasons  of  things,  and  seeks  to  find  out  their 
causes  as  if  by  the  spontaneous  promptings  of  instinct. 
The  study  of  Nature  is,  therefore,  the  most  congenial  em- 
ployment of  the  opening  mind,  and  one  of  its  purest 
sources  of  pleasure.  Every  fact  that  is  learned  becomes  a 
krey  to  others ;  every  progressive  step  discloses  wonders 
previously  unimagined. 

When  the  introduction  was  finished,  in  the  autumn 
of  1851,  the  manuscript  was  at  once  placed  in  the 
hands  of  D.  Appleton  &  Co.  for  publication.  The 


The  Class-Book  of  Chemistry.  69 

author's  brave  and  patient  toil  was  at  length  to  be  re- 
warded. The  book  had  an  immediate  and  signal  suc- 
cess ;  and  to  this  day,  having  been  twice  rewritten  in 
conformity  to  the  advancement  of  the  science,  it  re- 
mains one  of  our  best  text-books  of  chemistry.  The 
sale  has  reached  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
copies.  In  every  State  of  the  Union  teachers  and 
pupils  welcomed  the  book.  The  subject  was  pre- 
sented with  beautiful  clearness,  in  a  most  attractive 
style.  There  was  a  firm  grasp  of  the  philosophical 
principles  underlying  chemical  phenomena,  and  the 
meaning  and  functions  of  the  science  were  set  forth  in 
such  a  way  as  to  charm  the  student  and  make  him 
wish  for  more.  At  that  time  a  spark  of  enthusiasm 
was  no  more  expected  in  a  text-book  of  chemistry 
than  in  a  treatise  on  contingent  remainders.  But  in 
Youmans's  pages  the  chemical  elements  were  alive. 
To  him  oxygen  was  not  merely  an  element  of  certain 
specified  weight  ancl  affinities ;  it  was  alternately  the 
sustainer  and  destroyer  of  life,  the  master  builder  of 
organic  form  and  the  chief  agent  of  its  decay,  the 
purifier  of  air  and  sea. 

The  Class-book  of  Chemistry  was  Youmans's  ger- 
minal book ;  all  his  subsequent  work  was  foreshad- 
owed in  it — his  Correlation,  Household  Science,  Cul- 
ture, and  his  articles  innumerable.  Its  reception 
showed  him  his  strength  and  his  true  field.  Thence- 
forth his  career  was  that  of  breaking  the  bread  of  sci- 
ence to  the  multitude. 

The  present  chapter  and  its  predecessor  have  their 
lesson,  full  of  consolation  and  encouragement  as  of 
pathos.  When  the  Chemistry  was  finished,  in  the 
autumn  of  1851,  its  author  had  been  for  eleven  years 
under  the  care  of  an  oculist.  Under  such  circum- 


7O  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

stances,  if  a  man  of  eager  energy  and  boundless  intel- 
lectual craving  were  to  be  overwhelmed  with  de- 
spondency, we  could  not  call  it  strange.  If  he  were 
to  become  dependent  upon  friends  for  the  means  of 
support,  it  would  be  ungracious,  if  not  unjust,  to  blame 
him.  But  Edward  Youmans  was  not  made  of  the 
stuff  that  acquiesces  in  defeat.  He  rose  superior  to 
calamity  ;  he  won  the  means  of  livelihood,  and  in  dark- 
ness entered  upon  the  path  to  an  enviable  fame ;  or, 
as  he  would  doubtless  prefer  to  have  it  said,  he  made 
for  himself  an  opportunity  to  be  helpful  to  his  fellow- 
men. 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE   SCIENTIFIC   LECTURER. 

1851-1868.     Age,  30-4.7. 

THE  success  of  the  Chemistry  was  supplemented 
by  increased  demand  for  the  chart  which  illustrated  it. 
Brightened  fortunes  told  favourably  and  at  once  on 
the  health  and  spirits  of  our  author.  He  had  justified 
his  friends'  faith  that  there  was  "  something  in  him." 
He  had  proved  that  he  had  more  than  an  empty  am- 
bition to  bring  a  knowledge  of  science  to  the  people. 
Mind  and  body  soon  told  the  story  of  cares  banished 
and  a  fight  well  won.  The  long,  distressing  period  of 
darkness  now  came  to  an  end.  Sight  was  so  far  re- 
covered in  one  eye  that  it  became  possible  to  go  about 
freely,  to  read,  to  recognize  friends,  to  travel,  and 
make  much  of  life.  I  am  told  that  his  face  had  ac- 
quired an  expression  characteristic  of  the  blind,  but 
that  expression  was  afterward  completely  lost.  When 
I  knew  him  it  would  never  have  occurred  to  me  that 
his  sight  was  imperfect,  except  as  regards  length  of 
range.  There  could  be  no  doubt  on  that  point.  He 
never  could  recognize  any  but  his  most  familiar  friends 
at  a  distance  of  more  than  a  couple  of  yards,  and  this 
fact  was  apt  to  give  him  a  slight  air  of  timidity  and 
reserve,  which  instantly  vanished,  however,  as  soon  as 
he  knew  to  whom  he  was  speaking.  When  sight  was 
first  recovered,  it  must  be  confessed  that  he  ran  seri- 

(71) 


72  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

ous  risks  by  overtasking  the  eye,  and  in  after  years  he 
was  known  to  repeat  this  imprudence,  but  he  never 
again  had  to  put  himself  under  an  oculist's  care. 
When  his  malady  threatened  to  recur  he  knew  how 
to  arrest  its  progress,  and  with  firmer  general  health 
he  became  much  less  liable  to  attack. 

Mr.  Youmans's  career  as  a  scientific  lecturer  now 
began.  His  first  lecture  was  the  beginning  of  a  series 
on  the  relations  of  organic  life  to  the  atmosphere.  It 
was  illustrated  with  chemical  apparatus,  and  was  given' 
in  Dr.  Elliott's  commodious  office  to  an  audience  which 
filled  the  room,  including  a  number  of  young  ladies 
from  fashionable  uptown  schools.  Probably  no  lecturer 
ever  faced  his  first  audience  without  some  trepida- 
tion, and  Youmans  had  not  the  mainstay  and  refuge 
afforded  by  a  manuscript,  for  his  sight  was  never  good 
enough  to  make  such  an  aid  available  for  his  lectures. 
At  first  the  right  words  were  slow  in  finding  their 
way  to  those  ready  lips,  and  his  friends  were  begin- 
ning to  grow  anxious,  when  all  at  once  a  happy  acci- 
dent broke  the  spell.  He  was  remarking  upon  the 
characteristic  instability  of  nitrogen,  and  pointing  to  a 
jar  of  that  gas  on  the  table  before  him,  when  some 
fidgety  movement  of  his  knocked  the  jar  off  the  table. 
He  improved  the  occasion  with  one  of  his  quaint  bons 
mots ;  and,  as  there  is  nothing  that  greases  the  wheels 
of  life  like  a  laugh,  the  lecture  went  on  to  a  success- 
ful close.  At  the  end  of  the  series  a  general  wish 
was  expressed  that  the  lectures  should  be  repeated 
in  a  larger  audience-room.  Among  his  first  topics 
were  the  chemistry  of  organized  bodies,  of  vegetable 
growth,  of  food  and  digestion.  He  subsequently  dis- 
cussed the  sources  and  nature  of  alcohol,  and  its 
effect  on  the  human  system.  Then  came  a  series  on 


The  Scientific  Lecturer.  73 

the  sunbeam,  explaining  the  varied  influences  of  the 
solar  ray,  with  an  analysis  of  its  forces ;  the  relation 
of  the  sun  to  life  on  our  planet ;  the  chemistry  of  the 
sun  and  the  stars ;  the  links  uniting  the  realms  of  mat- 
ter and  mind.  In  two  lectures  on  Ancient  Philosophy 
and  Modern  Science  he  set  forth  the  debt  due  by 
chemist  and  astronomer  to  alchemist  and  astrologer; 
and  here  he  took  occasion  to  point  out  how  the  guesses 
of  Democritus  and  Lucretius  had  been  barren,  not- 
withstanding their  shrewdness,  from  their  not  having 
married  experiment  to  speculation.  In  his  Masquer- 
ade of  the  Elements  he  presented  in  glowing  outline 
the  phenomena  of  protean  chemical  transformation. 
His  New  Philosophy  of  Forces  was  the  first  popular 
exposition  of  the  correlation  of  forces  given  in  Amer- 
ica. In  every  discourse  it  was  his  custom  to  give 
ample  graphic  and  experimental  illustration  ;  the  seen 
proof  riveted  the  spoken  thought.  His  lectures,  more- 
over, had  in  them  the  salt  of  persuasion  ;  the  interest 
he  enjoyed  he  was  anxious  others  should  share.  He 
was  a  sower  desirous  that  a  harvest  should  spring  up 
so  abundant  as  to  make  his  handfuls  of  seed  corn 
seem  paltry  enough.  Sympathy,  not  less  than  enthu- 
siasm for  science,  made  him  one  of  the  most  impres- 
sive lecturers  of  his  time.  One  other  characteristic 
never  failed  to  broaden  every  discourse  he  delivered — 
a  philosophic  spirit  which  passed  from  detail  to  gen- 
eralization, from  a  fact  to  the  law  of  universal  sweep 
whose  manifestation  and  proof  it  was.  To  his  mind  a 
part  always  suggested  the  whole ;  he  never  looked 
through  a  window  of  science  so  small  that  it  did  not 
show  the  sky.  When  he  came  to  the  outlook  from  a 
new  and  lofty  standpoint  his  delight  would  burst  forth 
in  poetic  fervour. 


74  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

The  lectures  in  Dr.  Elliott's  office  were  the  begin- 
ning of  a  busy  career  of  seventeen  years  of  lecturing, 
ending  in  1868 ;  and  I  believe  it  is  safe  to  say  that  few 
things  were  done  in  all  those  years  of  more  vital  and 
lasting  benefit  to  the  American  people  than  this  broad- 
cast sowing  of  the  seeds  of  scientific  thought  in  the 
lectures  of  Edward  Youmans.  They  came  just  at  the 
time  when  the  world  was  ripe  for  the  doctrine  of  evo- 
lution, when  all  the  wondrous  significance  of  the  trend 
of  scientific  discovery  since  Newton's  time  was  begin- 
ning to  burst  upon  men's  minds.  The  work  of  Lyell 
in  geology,  followed  at  length  in  1859  by  the  Darwin- 
ian theory ;  the  doctrine  of  the  correlation  of  forces 
and  the  consequent  unity  of  nature ;  the  extension  and 
reformation  of  chemical  theory ;  the  simultaneous  ad- 
vance made  in  sociological  inquiry,  and  in  the  concep- 
tion of  the  true  aims  and  proper  methods  of  education 
— all  this  made  the  period  a  most  fruitful  one  for  the 
peculiar  work  of  such  a  teacher  as  Youmans. 

In  his  early  manhood  there  was  in  the  community 
a  very  inadequate  appreciation  of  natural  law.  An 
indolent  reverence  contented  itself  with  a  theological 
cosmogony  little  modified  by  the  results  of  observation 
and  experiment.  Physical  science  had  been  like  an 
archipelago,  with  each  island  distinct  and  separate  from 
its  neighbours.  Even  while  he  looked  they  rose,  and 
the  retiring  waters  showed  a  continent  soon  to  be 
parcelled  out  among  sturdy  bands  of  explorers.  That 
the  wave  circling  out  from  the  paddle,  the  musical 
note  pulsating  the  air,  the  throb  of  electricity,  the  pull 
of  magnetism,  the  vibrations  of  heat  and  light  shot 
forth  from  fuel,  sun,  and  star,  were  in  all  their  diver- 
sity fundamentally  one,  was  a  conception  to  fascinate 
such  a  mind  as  his  and  give  charm  to  his  discourses. 


The  Scientific  Lecturer.  75 

The  newness  and  freshness  of  a  great  truth  add  much 
to  the  effect  of  its  intrinsic  importance.  Fortunate  are 
the  men  who  live  in  times  when  ideas  of  the  first  mag- 
nitude mount  above  the  horizon ;  who  are  young 
enough  to  be  adequately  impressed  by  them,  suffi- 
ciently mature  to  see  their  significance  and  think  out 
their  implications. 

Such  an  idea  of  the  first  magnitude  was  the  doc- 
trine of  evolution,  the  grandest  thought  of  science. 
By  showing  Nature  to  be  a  family  it  gave  to  classifica- 
tion genetic  relationship  as  its  true  basis.  To  educa- 
tion it  indicated  a  new  way  and  the  best.  It  made  it 
possible  to  write  Nature's  history  backward  to  the 
primitive  chaos — as  wonderful  in  all  its  dormant  possi- 
bilities as  the  cosmos  it  contained.  It  made  the  uni- 
verse one  in  a  new  sense,  for  it  bound  together,  in  a 
single  web  of  causation  worlds,  continents,  life,  mind. 
To  have  lived  when  this  prodigious  truth  was  ad- 
vanced, debated,  established,  was  a  privilege  rare  in 
the  centuries.  The  inspiration  of  seeing  the  old 
isolating  mists  dissolve  and  reveal  the  convergence  of 
all  branches  of  knowledge  is  something  that  can  hard- 
ly be  known  to  the  men  of  a  later  generation,  inherit- 
ors of  what  this  age  has  won. 

During  the  course  of  Youmans's  career  as  a  lec- 
turer the  atmosphere  became  charged  with  concep- 
tions of  evolution.  Youmans  had  arrived  at  such  con- 
ceptions in  the  course  of  his  study  of  the  separate 
lines  of  scientific  speculation  which  were  now  about 
to  be  summed  up  and  organized  by  Herbert  Spencer. 
In  the  field  of- scientific  generalization  upon  this  great 
scale  Youmans  was  not  an  originator,  but  his  broadly 
sympathetic  and  luminous  mind  moved  on  a  plane  so 
near  to  that  of  the  originators  that  he  seized  at  once 


76  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

upon  the  grand  scheme  of  thought  as  it  was  devel- 
oped, made  it  his  own,  and  brought  to  its  interpreta- 
tion and  diffusion  such  a  happy  combination  of  quali- 
ties as  one  seldom  meets  with.  The  ordinary  popu- 
larizer  of  great  and  novel  truths  is  a  man  who  com- 
prehends them  but  partially  and  illustrates  them  in  a 
lame  and  fragmentary  way.  But  it  was  the  peculiar- 
ity of  Youmans  that,  while  on  the  one  hand  he  could 
grasp  the  newest  scientific  thought  so  surely  and  firm- 
ly that  he  seemed  to  have  entered  into  the  innermost 
mind  of  its  author,  on  the  other  hand  he  could  speak 
to  the  general  public  in  a  convincing  and  stimulating 
way  that  had  no  parallel.  This  was  the  secret  of  his 
power,  and  there  can  be  no  question  that  his  influence 
in  educating  the  American  people  to  receive  the  doc- 
trine of  evolution  was  great  and  widespread. 

The  years  when  Youmans  was  travelling  and  lec- 
turing were  the  years  when  the  old  lyceum  system  of 
popular  lectures  was  still  in  its  vigour.  The  kind  of 
life  led  by  the  energetic  lecturer  in  those  days  was 
not  that  of  a  sybarite,  as  may  be  seen  from  a  passage 
in  one  of  his  letters :  "  I  lectured  in  Sandusky,  and 
had  to  get  up  at  five  o'clock  to  reach  Elyria ;  I  had 
had  but  very  little  sleep.  To  get  from  Elyria  to 
Pittsburg  I  must  take  the  five  o'clock  morning  train, 
and  the  hotel  darky  said  he  would  try  to  awaken  me. 
I  knew  what  that  meant,  and  so  did  not  get  a  single 
wink  of  sleep  that  night.  Rode  all  day  to  Pittsburg, 
and  had  to  lecture  in  the  great  Academy  of  Music 
over  footlights.  .  .  .  The  train  that  left  for  Zanesville 
departed  at  two  in  the  morning.  I  had  been  assured 
a  hundred  times  (for  I  asked  everybody  I  met)  that  I 
would  get  a  sleeping  car  to  Zanesviile,  and  when  I 
was  all  ready  to  start  I  was  informed  that  this  morn- 


The  Scientific  Lecturer.  77 

ing  there  was  no  sleeping  car.  By  the  time  I  reached 
here  I  was  pretty  completely  used  up." 

Such  a  fatiguing  life,  however,  has  its  compensa- 
tions. It  brings  the  lecturer  into  friendly  contact 
with  the  brightest  minds  among  his  fellow-country- 
men in  many  places,  and  enlarges  his  sphere  of  influ- 
ence in  a  way  that  is  not  easy  to  estimate.  Clearly, 
an  earnest  lecturer,  of  commanding  intelligence  and 
charming  manner,  with  a  great  subject  to  teach,  must 
have  an  opportunity  for  sowing  seeds  that  will  pres- 
ently ripen  in  a  change  of  opinion  or  sentiment,  in  an 
altered  way  of  looking  at  things  on  the  part  of  whole 
communities.  No  lecturer  has  ever  had  a  better  op- 
portunity of  this  sort  than  Edward  Youmans,  and  none 
ever  made  a  better  use  of  his  opportunity.  His  gifts 
as  a  talker  were  of  the  highest  order.  The  commonest 
and  plainest  story,  as  told  by  Edward  Youmans,  had 
all  the  breathless  interest  of  the  most  thrilling  ro- 
mance. Absolutely  unconscious  of  himself,  simple, 
straightforward,  and  vehement,  wrapped  up  in  his 
subject,  the  very  embodiment  of  faith  and  enthusiasm, 
of  heartiness  and  good  cheer,  it  was  delightful  to  hear 
him.  And  when  we  join  with  all  this  his  unfailing 
common  sense,  his  broad  and  kindly  view  of  men  and 
things,  and  the  delicious  humour  that  kept  flashing  out 
in  quaint,  pithy  phrases  such  as  no  other  man  would 
have  thought  of,  and  such  as  are  the  despair  of  any 
one  trying  to  remember  and  quote  them,  we  can  seem 
to  imagine  what  a  power  he  must  have  been  with  his 
lectures. 

When  such  a  man  goes  about  for  seventeen  years, 
teaching  scientific  truths  for  which  the  world  is  ripe, 
we  may  be  sure  that  his  work  is  great,  albeit  we  have 
no  standard  whereby  we  can  exactly  measure  it.  In 


78  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

hundreds  of  little  towns  with  queer  names  did  this 
strong-  personality  appear  and  make  its  way  and  leave 
its  effects  in  the  shape  of  new  thoughts,  new  questions, 
and  enlarged  hospitality  of  mind,  among  the  inhabit- 
ants. The  results  of  all  this  are  surely  visible  to-day. 
In  no  part  of  the  English  world  has  Herbert  Spencer's 
philosophy  met  with  such  a  general  and  cordial  recep- 
tion as  in  the  United  States.  This  may  no  doubt  be 
largely  explained  by  a  reference  to  general  causes ; 
but  as  it  is  almost  always  necessary,  along  with  our 
general  causes,  to  take  into  the  account  some  personal 
influence,  so  it  is  in  this  case.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
among  the  agencies  which  during  the  past  fifty  years 
have  so  remarkably  broadened  the  mind  of  the  Ameri- 
can people,  very  few  have  been  more  potent  than  the 
gentle  and  subtle  but  pervasive  work  done  by  Edward 
Youmans  with  his  lectures,  and  to  this  has  been  large- 
ly due  the  hospitable  reception  of  Herbert  Spencer's 
ideas. 

Many  a  young  man  in  many  a  town  could  trace 
to  Youmans  and  his  lectures  the  first  impulse  that 
led  him  to  seek  and  obtain  a  university  education. 
In  quarters  innumerable  his  advice  gave  direction  to 
family  reading  in  the  best  treatises  on  astronomy,  phys- 
ics, chemistry,  geology,  and  physiology.  Nothing  in 
all  his  experience  pleased  him  more  than  the  genuine 
interest  in  science  which  he  used  to  find  in  the  small- 
est and  unlikeliest  places.  After  a  lecture  it  was 
always  his  habit  in  free  and  easy  talk  to  draw'  out  the 
opinion  of  his  hearers,  and  thus  he  often  got  useful 
hints.  It  helped  him  in  learning  what  modes  of  pres- 
entation were  most  effective,  and  at  what  points  of  the 
borderland  between  the  known  and  the  unknown  his 
audiences  could  most  readily  follow  him.  He  also 


The  Scientific  Lecturer.  79 

learned  how  often  the  stupidity  of  the  average  mind 
will  misapprehend  and  pervert  the  clearest  statements. 

His  lectures  were  never  committed  to  memory, 
but  each  time  delivered  with  such  variation  of  argu- 
ment and  illustration  as  to  bring  to  the  second  or  third 
delivery  in  a  city  many  of  the  auditors  present  at  the 
first.  Of  his  absorption  in  his  subject  when  he  had 
fairly  warmed  to  his  work  some  amusing  stories  are 
told.  At  Faribault,  Minnesota,  one  evening,  such  was 
the  amplitude  of  his  excited  gyrations  that  they  ex- 
ceeded the  rather  narrow  bounds  of  the  platform. 
Twice  he  slipped  off  to  the  floor.  Fortunately  the 
platform  was  a  low  one,  and  after  each  fall  he  resumed 
the  thread  of  his  exposition  without  the  slightest  dis- 
composure. On  another  occasion,  in  Brooklyn,  his 
emphasis  came  out  in  gesticulation  so  fierce  as  almost 
to  bring  a  heavy  screen  down  on  his  head.  To  the 
relief  of  his  audience,  and  especially  of  his  committee, 
the  screen  stood  proof  against  his  thumping. 

Miss  Youmans  tells  me  that  Edward's  loud  voice 
and  emphatic  manner  were  family  traits.  When  any 
topic  of  moment  came  up  in  the  family  circle  a  stranger 
might  have  supposed  the  talkers  were  quarrelling,  so 
vehement  were  their  tones.  Edward's  most  conspicu- 
ous quality  was  the  amount  and  intensity  of  energy 
displayed  in  speech  and  action  on  all  occasions.  It 
should  be  added,  at  the  same  time,  that  a  man  of  more 
perfect  refinement  never  lived.  We  are  apt  to  asso- 
ciate loud  tones  with  a  certain  kind  of  roughness ; 
sometimes,  too,  with  brusqueness.  About  Youmans 
there  was  not  the  faintest  trace  of  anything  of  the 
sort.  The  combination  of  explosive  animal  spirits  and 
intense  eagerness  with  perfect  grace  and  gentleness 
was  such  as  I  have  never  witnessed  in  any  other  man. 


8o  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

Words  cannot  describe  it.  In  all  that  emphasis  of 
tone  and  gesture  there  was  nothing  harsh.  The  effect 
was  magnetic.  I  never  heard  him  give  a  lecture,  but 
I  have  often  been-told  that  his  audiences  sat  as  if  spell- 
bound, and  could  not  turn  their  eyes  from  him  while 
he  was  speaking.  He  must  have  made  a  fine  appear- 
ance on  the  platform,  for  he  did  everywhere.  He  was 
about  five  feet  and  ten  inches  in  height,  and  in  middle 
life  weighed  not  far  from  one  hundred  and  ninety 
pounds.  He  was  well  proportioned,  and  easy  in  his 
movements ;  a  man  of  fine  fibre,  with  clear  complex- 
ion and  soft  brown  hair,  somewhat  curly ;  always 
plainly  dressed,  but  with  daintiest  neatness.  Quite 
compatible  with  perfect  manly  dignity,  and  add- 
ing to  its  charm,  was  a  slight  touch  of  modest 
deference,  the  natural  outgrowth  of  unselfish  inter- 
est in  his  fellow-men  and  constant  readiness  to  learn 
something  from  the  person  with  whom  he  was 
talking.  In  this  particular  there  was  something 
about  his  manner  that  used  to  remind  me  of  Mr. 
Darwin. 

Prosecuted,  as  these  lecture  tours  were,  chiefly  in 
winter,  through  circuits  of  thousands  of  miles,  when 
trains  were  as  yet  uncomfortable  and  slow  and  their 
connections  uncertain,  it  was  often  impossible  for  the 
lecturer  to  avoid  exposure  that  injured  his  health. 
Sometimes  his  vigour  was  seriously  impaired,  and  the 
effects  could  be  seen  in  the  lessened  animation  of  his 
lectures.  At  last,  warned  by  attacks  of  rheumatism 
and  increased  liability  to  catch  cold,  he  withdrew 
from  the  field  where  he  had  been  so  useful,  from  the 
work  he  had  so  thoroughly  enjoyed. 

The  following  characteristic  extracts  from  his  cor- 
respondence may  serve  to  illustrate  some  of  the  mis- 


Tlie  Scientific  Lecturer.  81 

haps  of  a  lecturer,  and  his  inevitable  ups  and  downs  of 
fortune  and  of  spirits  : 

GREAT  WESTERN  RAILWAY,  CANADA, 
Wednesday,  November  30,  1859. 

DEAR  SISTER:  "The  Lord  reigneth,  let  the  earth  re- 
joice." I  have  great  satisfaction  in  the  sentiment,  and 
return  thanks.  It  is  so  agreeable  to  think  that  the  devil  is 
superfluous  and  impotent,  and  has  nothing  to  do  but  "  loaf 
and  invite  his  soul,"  and  have  a  good  time  generally  down 
below.  ...  I  discover  that  I  lost  my  ring.  It  may  be  some- 
where in  the  room  "  knockin'  round,"  and  may  turn  up,  un- 
less it  came  off  while  washing  and  went  down  the  pipe,  or 
slipped  into  the  crevice  when  I  lay  down  upon  the  sofa  or 
on  the  bed ;  but  I  do  not  understand,  for  I  did  not  sleep  a 
wink  all  night.  I  don't  see  how  it  could  have  got  off  with- 
out my  knowing  it.  However,  it's  all  right.  The  aurifer- 
ous particles  are  not  abolished  ;  matter  is  never  annihilated 
— it  changes  place,  as  the  ring  illustrates,  but  the  totality  is 
ever  undisturbed.  What  vicissitudes  may  befall  the  plain 
little  annulus  are  beyond  the  reach  of  rational  speculation ; 
but  the  Lord  has  it  in  his  keeping.  Let  the  earth  rejoice, 
and  the  solitudes  of  the  isle,  etc. 

Editor  Thomas,  who  professes  to  reign  righteously  in  the 
little  world  of  Appletons'  Guide,  said,  "  Go  by  Erie  Railroad." 
I  trusted  also  to  Lord  Thomas — with  the  usual  result.  It 
is  the  worst  route — miserable  ;  failed  to  make  its  connec- 
tions yesterday.  I  am  consequently  behind  time,  and  shall 
not  arrive  at  Detroit  till  ten  o'clock  to-night — an  hour  after 
my  audience  have  dispersed.  The  Lord  reigneth,  let  the 
people  of  Detroit  rejoice.  It  was  philosophical  fate.  If 
I  had  taken  another  line  along  the  planet  it  would  have 
altered  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the  physical  universe.  If  I 
had  stopped  at  the  Hudson  River  Railroad  depot,  which  I 
scornfully  passed  by,  I  should  have  arrived  in  ample  time, 
lectured,  and  thus  altered  the  centre  of  gravity  of  the  intel- 


82  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

lectual  universe.  I  am  so  glad  to  contribute  something  to 
the  harmony  of  the  universe !  .  .  .  We  stopped  an  hour 
since  with  the  alarm  that  the  baggage  car  was  on  fire. 
Horrifying  intelligence  for  the  haves  ;  indifferent,  though  a 
little  exciting,  for  the  have  nots.  Let  us  see :  one  bag  is 
with  me  here.  The  diagrams,  too,  stick  closer  than  a  broth- 
er— either  of  my  brothers,  at  any  rate.  They  are  safe, 
thank  the  Lord !  The  large  bag  with  the  books,  clothing, 

etc.,  is  in  the  travelling  refrigerator  of  Shadrach,  M , 

and  A .    Let  us  proceed  to  ascertain  if  our  bag  has  had 

the  same  experiences  as  those  incombustible  old  Jews  who 
could  have  snapped  their  fingers  in  the  face  of  all  insurance 
companies  in  the  world.  Piles  of  wet  and  damaged  goods 
upon  the  platform,  scattered  around.  Let  us  see.  Books. 
The  late  lamented  Nicoll,  now  doubly  lamented — an  illus- 
trated edition  of  igneous  and  aqueous  agencies.  The  illus- 
trated Correlation  of  Forces — succumbed  at  last  to  its  own 
convertibility.  Bain  in  a  decidedly  baneful  way.  Carpet 
bag  (except  the  faithful  handles)  reverted  to  the  inorganic 
state — just  saves  the  equilibrium  of  the  organic  world.  I 
pray  that  the  Lord  will  continue  to  shower  down  his  richest 
golden  blessings  with  increasing  profusion  while  I  am  "in." 
More  anon.  With  much  affection,  E.  L.  Y. 

The  following  letters  and  extracts  will  have  a  fur- 
ther interest : 

JACKSON,  MICH.,  December  7,  1859. 

DEAR  SISTER  :  It  is  painful  to  be  separated  from  you 
all,  but  fifty  dollars  per  night,  with  the  cash  in  the  morning, 
is  so  compensating  and  so  mitigating  and  so  assuaging  and 
mollifying  and  healing!  They  have  just  this  moment  paid 
me  for  last  night's  work.  My  lecture  at  Ann  Arbor  was 
most  satisfactory,  and  gave  general  pleasure,  although  the 
recollection  of  the  Sunbeam  is  too  recent  and  the  treat- 
ment of  that  topic  was  too  peculiar  to  permit  the  advan- 


The  Scientific  Lecturer.  83 

tageous  exhibition  of  the  new  subject.  But  in  Jackson  it  is 
different.  I  had  never  been  here  before — all  strangers.  I 
had  the  best  light  yet,  and  the  affair  went  off  satisfactorily. 
I  spoke  in  the  Presbyterian  church.  The  clergyman  said 
it  was  by  far  the  ablest  and  most  masterly  lecture  to  which 
he  had  ever  listened,  and  expressed  great  wonder  at  the 
possibility  of  cramming  so  much  clear  thought  into  a  single 
performance.  The  practical,  testing  effect  was  that  the 
committee  desired  to  engage  me  in  February  for  the  four 
on  the  Chemistry  of  the  Sunbeam,  at  two  hundred  dollars. 
I  declined  to  engage  positively.  ...  I  am  stopping  with  the 
pleasantest  private  family  in  the  world.  Good  folks  are 
everywhere. 

Make  rough,  large  skeleton  drawings  of  your  own  of 
the  brain,  its  parts  and  dynamic  connections,  so  as  to  help 
me  when  I  return.  Can't  you  draw  a  rough  colossal  spi- 
nal column,  with  the  thirty-one  pairs  starting  out — two  col- 
ours, and  the  entrances  sufficiently  far  apart  so  that  you 
could  print  appended  to  each  nerve  the  part  to  which  it 
goes,  so  that  the  whole  could  be  learned  in  the  quickest 
way  and  without  reference  to  text,  which  loses  time  ?  Our 
studies  should  be,  first,  the  fullest  normal  anatomy  and 
physiology  of  the  nervous  system ;  then  we  shall  be  pre- 
pared to  consider  fully  its  pathology  and  all  its  morbid 
phenomena.  And  then  we  shall  first  be  prepared  to  estimate, 
weigh,  and  pronounce  authoritatively  upon  the  whole  do- 
main of  mysticism,  upon  which  the  public  are  actually  mad, 
viz.,  biology,  magnetism,  spiritism,  etc.  A  large  and  rich 
field;  and  as  an  offshoot  of  the  first  branch  of  inquiry  the 
Chemistry  of  the  Sunbeam  is  a  mere  twig.  I  write  in  great 
haste.  Don't  forget  to  drop  me  a  line  frequently  if  you 
have  but  a  word,  and  I  will  do  the  same. 

With  love  to  all,  affectionately, 

E.  L.  Y. 


84  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

KALAMAZOO,  MICH.,  December  //,  1859. 

DEAR  SISTER  :  I  arrived  here  last  night,  and  found  your 
letter  of  Monday,  the  5th.  I  am  in  sad  plight,  and  shall 
write  a  savage  letter.  Another  fool  is  in  charge  of  lectur- 
ing affairs  in  Chicago,  and  I  am  completely  upset  by  it. 
Milwaukee  fizzles — can't  get  a  hall,  and  of  all  the  places  I 
have  written  to  I  have  heard  only  from  Milwaukee  and 
eternal  Aurora,  who  demands  the  Chemistry  of  the  Sun- 
beam in  one  lecture  at  forty  dollars,  with  the  written  speci- 
fication that  I  shall  pay  all  my  own  expenses.  And  so  I 
have  now  two  engagements  to  play — here  to-morrow  even- 
ing, and  at  Chicago  on  Thursday  evening — and  then  I  am 
out  for  the  month,  except  such  chance  events  as  may  hap- 
pen to  fall  out.  I  am  wanted  to  lecture  in  all  directions, 
but  there  is  no  chance  to  arrange,  and  so  I  will  let  it  slide. 
The  only  difficulty  is  this — and  here  I  stopped  and  took  up 
Bain — the  charred  remains  of  poor  Bain,  full  of  interest.  I 
have  been  trying  to  get  out  of  this  Western  world  into  Plato's 
world  of  pure  thought.  It  has  helped.  .  .  .  My  Ancient 
Philosophy  here  last  night  was  perfectly  splendid.  A  fine 
room,  a  fine  house  of  intelligent,  sympathizing  people ;  the 
thing  went  off  admirably.  I  am  beyond  doubt  a  better,  a 
rather  better  speaker  than  last  year.  I  have  profited  some- 
what ;  gestures  are  certainly  better,  although,  Heaven  be 
my  witness,  they  are  bad  enough  yet.  .  .  .  Our  old  land- 
lord is  the  very  lord  of  that  kind  of  lords.  I'd  sell  out  my 
stock  in  the  universe  for  one  twentieth  of  his  suavity. 
What  wonders  I  might  do  then  !  Oily  Gammon  was  a 
polar  bear  beside  him.  As  I  descended  from  the  omnibus, 
tied  to  that  immortal  trail  of  baggage,  half  a  dozen  nigs 
seized  upon  the  plunder,  and  old  Chesterfield  took  one  of 
my  hands,  and,  passing  his  other  arm  so  gracefully,  so 
gently,  so  lovingly  around  my  waist,  led,  conducted,  es- 
corted— took  me  into  his  castle,  the  Burdick  House.  You 
remember  Burdick !  I  think  I'll  lie  down. 


Tlie  Scientific  Lecturer.  85 

Well,  I  have  had  a  nap  and  a  dream — a  smash-up  on  the 
railroad;  fourteen  killed,  several  wounded.  I  tried  to  get 
admission  to  the  place  where  the  surgeons  were  operating. 
Dr.  Blake  would  not  admit  me.  I  persisted,  and  was  at 
length  graciously  permitted  to  enter  the  hospital  room  after 
the  operating  was  all  done.  The  first  object  or  "case"  I 
saw  was  the  upper  end  of  a  negro,  like  a  blackened  bust  of 
Webster  standing  on  a  barrel.  He  was  not  dead,  for  he 
had  a  pipe  in  his  mouth,  which  he  kept  steady  with  one  hand. 
He  was  puffing  away  most  leisurely,  and  seemed  entirely 
happified.  How  do  you  think  his  other  hand  was  occupied  ? 
Why,  his  heart  had  been  taken  out  by  the  accident,  and  the 
surgeons  had  replaced  it  by  a  pair  of  small  wooden  boxes 
containing  valves  and  pistons,  which  the  acardiac  wretch 
was  working  alternately  and  most  satisfactorily.  Whatever 
may  be  said  of  innate  ideas  or  the  creative  power  of  mind, 
the  probability  is  that  I  could  never  have  dreamed  this 
dream  until  after  Harvey  and  the  railroad  system. 

I  approach  the  end  of  my  sheet,  but  to  what  purpose 
have  I  scribbled  ?  I  have  had  nothing  to  say,  and  have 
stuck  to  the  formula.  The  Sunday  is  superb.  I  stay 
within,  and  am  blessedly  let  alone.  Do  you  know,  I  have  a 
strange  sort  of  feeling  concerning  this  thing  of  where- 
abouts. I  have  never  before  been  so  satisfied  with  drift- 
ing, and  I  have  a  kind  of  vague  dread  of  coming  back  to 
New  York.  I  have  never  before  been  in  this  sort  of  mood 
of  mind.  I  tolerate,  I  almost  enjoy,  I  almost  solicit  ab- 
sence. I  have  been  solidly  busy ;  that  may  perhaps  par- 
tially account  for  it.  What  mood  the  coming  fortnight  will 
induce  remains  for  determination.  You  say  you  don't  know 
if  you  are  managiig  just  right.  It  makes  no  difference. 
Only  sleep  it  out ;  all  the  time  you  spend  in  sleep  is  clear 
gain.  If  there  is  any  surplus  life,  draw  it  off  in  the  direc- 
tion of  letters — sent  to  Chicago  the  rest  of  the  time,  I  guess. 
Your  brother,  loving  and  discouraged,  ELY 


86  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

Eleven  at  night — I  have  had  a  blessed,  refreshing  season 
this  evening  with  the  first  part  of  Bain,  where  he  opens 
the  nervous  system.  There  is  no  subject  like  it  in  all  the 
world  under  the  sun.  Let  us  rip  it  up  from  the  bottom. 
You  can't  learn  too  much  about  it,  nor  think  too  much 
about  it.  Every  step  of  simplification  gained  in  this  region 
is  a  mighty  stride  in  a  grand  direction.  So,  press  on  gently 
with  the  brain  and  nervous  system,  .  .  . 

My  position  is  secured.  If  health  lasts,  it  only  remains 
now  to  reap.  It  is  well  worth  while  to  battle  this  thing 
out.  Every  little  point  gained  has  a  great  value.  I  am 
out  of  the  horrible  pit  and  miry  clay  of  my  to-day's  letter. 
Give  yourself  no  trouble;  I  am  not  to  be  unhorsed  now, 

you  understand.  Truly, 

E.  L.  Y. 

LAFAYETTE,  IND.,  December  21,  1859. 
DEAR  SISTER: 

I  have  had  a  lesson. 

"  Only  one  ?  "  you  say. 
Yes,  I  have  had  many, 
But  the  last  to-day, 
From  that  costly  teacher 

Whom  we  all  employ, 
In  that  thorough  manner 
Which  we  don't  enjoy. 

But  I  can't  get  on  in  this  way — it's  too  slow — and  so  I  must 
dismount  from  Pegasus  and  take  Foot-Walker  line.  I  have 
further  to  report  of  the  Lord's  dealings  (read  the  inclosed 
long  extract).  Lafayette  turns  out  an  audience  of  a  thou- 
sand. Think  of  the  Masquerade  after  the  publication  of 
that  passage  !  Wasn't  that  a  fix  ?  But  I  have  been  provi- 
dentially saved  from  mortification.  Yesterday  morning, 
while  in  the  cars,  He  who  watches  the  ground  birds  and 
counts  hairs  sent  a  cinder  out  of  the  popgun  of  fate  and 
struck  the  bird's  eye  in  the  white — the  left  one,  It  was  a 


The  Scientific  Lecturer.  87 

dead  shot.  Then  my  eye  swelled  and  inflamed  furiously, 
and  when  I  arrived  here  I  was  done  for — helpless.  The 
committee  crowded  round,  condoling,  consoling,  disap- 
pointed, etc.  Some  one  was  aware  of  the  state  of  my  eyes 
heretofore,  and  enlightened  them  on  the  subject.  I  thought 
I  should  have  to  leave  at  once  for  home.  After  getting  all 
ready  to  go — packing  baggage  done,  bill  paid,  waiting  for 
the  stage — the  lamentations  of  the  committee  were  so  ve- 
hement, their  protestations  of  regret  at  not  hearing  me  so 
vociferous,  that  I  said :  "  Gentlemen,  if  you  want  to  hear 
me  lecture,  you  can  do  it.  I'll  go  in  blindfold  rather  than 
you  should  suffer.  If  you  say  another  word,  I'll  take  the 
risk  myself  and  lecture  to-night."  "  Oh,  it's  too  late  now," 
said  they,  referring  to  the  evening  paper  containing  extract 
No.  2,  which  I  inclose.  "  Very  well,"  said  I,  "to-morrow 
night,  then."  "  Agreed,"  said  they.  I  started  out  for  lauda- 
num, concentrated  ammonia,  and  pills;  put  myself  through, 
and  am  round  straight  again  to-day.  But  this  (bless  the 
Lord  !)  affords  excuse  for  not  reading  the  Masquerade.*  I 
am  going  to  give  them  the  Sunbeam  to-night  and  to-mor- 
row night.  I  am  now  trying  to  fix  up  the  other  places  by 
telegraph  where  I  am  unhinged.  It  will  probably  bring  me 
home  not  till  the  3ist — Saturday  night.  If  1  can  get  to 
Schenectady  Friday  morning  I  will  run  up  for  the  day. 
And  now,  from  the  receipt  of  this  till  I  come  home  you 
won't  have  much  to  do.  They  want  to  see  you  at  Saratoga. 
Suppose  you  slip  up  till  the  3ist — next  week  Saturday.  I 
will  call,  if  possible;  if  not,  you  can  come  down  alone. 

I  lectured  at  X last  Thursday.     My  treatment  there 

*  He  wrote  out  a  lecture  on  the  Masquerade  of  the  Elements,  which 
his  sister  printed  in  large  letters  with  pen  and  ink,  that  he  might  try  the 
experiment  of  reading,  as  most  lecturers  did  and  do.  He  succeeded  very 
well  with  it  in  places  where  he  had  never  been  before ;  but  people  who 
had  heard  his  extempore  Sunbeam  lectures  did  not  conceal  their  disap- 
pointment. 


88  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

was  the  shabbiest  I  have  yet  received.  The  committee  met 
me — three  of  them — and  a  carriage  was  ordered.  We  all  rode 
to  the  hotel,  five  minutes'  walk,  and  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
paying  for  the  party — one  dollar.  Accommodations  at  the 
hotel  were  fair,  charge  perfectly  exorbitant.  After  the 
lecture  the  secretary  came  up  to  me  and  handed  me  a  roll 
of  bills,  muttering  indistinctly  the  word  "  seventy-five." 
His  manner  was  that  of  a  sneak  who  was  doing  something 
he  was  ashamed  of.  I  said  nothing,  of  course.  There  is 
not  a  shadow  of  doubt  that  they  had  stipulated  to  pay  a 
hundred  dollars,  but  chose  to  make  twenty-five  dollars  by 
this  process.  Well,  if  they  can  stand  it  I  certainly  can. 
They  will  want  me  again,  but  will  fail  to  get  me. 

I  lectured  in  Ashtabula  the  other  night  in  a  howling 
snowstorm ;  had  a  crowd,  and,  although  it  was  a  small 
place,  they  paid  me  seventy-five  dollars,  and  earnestly 
begged  me  to  promise  to  come  again  next  year.  A  teacher 
drove  over  in  his  gig  ten  miles  in  the  cold  gale  to  attend 
the  lecture.  He  came  to  the  tavern  afterward  and  intro- 
duced himself.  He  was  a  very  fine,  bright  young  fellow. 
I  commiserated  his  folly  in  coming  out  such  an  inclement 
night.  "  I  would  not  take  five  hundred  dollars,"  he  replied, 
"  for  what  I  have  learned  this  night,  and  I  must  hear  that 
lecture  again."  Next  day  I  got  a  dispatch  to  come  to 
Geneva  the  first  vacant  night.  He  said  the  lecture  gave 
him  the  first  "  view  "  he  had  ever  had  in  science,  and  would 
be  the  turning  point  of  his  studies. 

I  go  from  place  to  place,  getting  into  good  quarters  and 
into  all  sorts  of  diabolical  holes.  At  Mansfield  I  was  to  be 
called  for  by  the  omnibus  at  five  and  a  half  A.  M.,  to  get  the 
train  at  three-quarters  and  off  at  six.  At  a  quarter  to  six  it 
had  not  come.  At  ten  minutes  of  six  I  started,  with  a  negro 
boy  to  carry  my  valise,  ran  all  the  way,  and  jumped  on  to 


The  Scientific  Lecturer.  89 

the  train  after  it  had  started.  Omnibus  did  not  come  at  all. 
At  Youngstown  I  stayed  in  the  most  dismal  and  dolorous 
den  of  a  tavern  I  ever  encountered.  I  was  put  to  bed  in  a 
compartment  six  feet  by  five,  the  bed  a  heap  of  rags,  a  par- 
tition a  little  higher  than  my  head,  and  a  man  dying  of 
consumption  on  the  other  side  of  it,  coughing  and  expecto- 
rating all  night.  Couldn't  sleep.  Got  up  at  two,  went 
downstairs,  and  sat  in  the  dingy,  filthy,  tobaccoed-and- 
sanded  bar-room  till  I  left  at  six  for  Warren.  Got  a  good 
hotel  there  and  a  capital  room,  and  enjoyed  it.  Went  to 
bed  at  eleven  p.  M.  ;  awakened  at  twelve  by  a  glare  of  light 
in  my  room.  Sprang  out  of  bed,  and  saw  that  the  next 
house  was  on  fire.  Six  or  eight  buildings  were  burned,  but 
the  brick  hotel  was  saved.  No  sleep  that  night,  of  course. 
Took  the  train  at  five  o'clock  for  Cleveland.  Got  into  the 
cars ;  overshoes  pinched  my  feet — took  them  off ;  fell 
asleep,  and  slept  an  hour  and  a  half,  into  Cleveland ; 
awoke;  overshoes  gone — hooked.  Such  is  life,  or  rather  a 
portion  of  it,  for  it  has  another  side  and  a  pleasanter. 

At  Grand  Rapids  I  finished  the  Sunbeam  with  fine  suc- 
cess, but  certain  envious  persons  started  the  story  that  I 
was  a  materialist,  and  there  was  much  excitement.  A  depu- 
tation of  my  warmest  friends,  who  had  been  thrown  into 
spasms,  waited  upon  me  to  get  a  formal  authoritative  con- 
tradiction of  the  rumour.  I  denied  their  right  to  get  ex- 
cited, and  demanded  to  know  if  I  had  given  any  occasion 
for  the  rumour,  and  asked  them  if  they  were  prepared  to 
assume  that  the  naked  tendency  of  science  is,  or  involves, 
materialism.  Could  they  expect  me  to  preach  in  addition 
to  lecturing?  Had  they  no  confidence  that  their  cler- 
gyman could  take  care  of  all  applications,  etc.  ?  They 
agreed,  and  so  on  Sunday  afternoon  out  came  Dominie 
Smith  with  a  sermon  on  the  lectures — conceding  every- 
thing, praising  and  puffing  them  extravagantly.  I  had  ex- 


go  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

pected  the  attendance  would  fall  off  at  the  next  lecture, 
but  it  did  not. 


The  following  is  taken  from  a  Buffalo  newspaper 
of  1873: 

The  seventh  lecture  in  the  Young  Men's  Association 
course  will  be  delivered  at  St.  James's  Hall  this  evening  by 
Prof.  E.  L.  Youmans,  of  New  York,  editor  of  The  Popular 
Science  Monthly.  The  subject  upon  which  the  professor 
was  originally  announced  to  lecture  was  What  is  Social 
Science  ?  A  change  became  necessary,  however,  and  the 
subject  of  the  lecture  to-night  is  The  Modern  Doctrine  of 
Forces.  A  lecture  upon  any  subject  by  Prof.  Youmans  is 
sure  to  be  both  interesting  and  instructive.  The  hall 
should  be  filled. 

But,  notwithstanding  the  eminence  which  Prof.  Youmans 
has  attained  as  a  scientist,  those  who  know  him  most  inti- 
mately candidly  admit  that  as  a  penman  he  is  anything  but 
a  success.  Some  time  since  Mr.  F.  D.  Locke,  chairman  of 
the  Lecture  Committee  of  the  Young  Men's  Association, 
wrote  to  the  professor,  reminding  him  of  his  engagement 
here  this  evening.  In  due  time  the  chairman  received  a 
letter  postmarked  New  York,  and  having  for  a  signature 
a  combination  of  hieroglyphics  which  was  supposed  to  be 
meant  for  the  name  of  Prof.  Youmans.  This  letter  was 
evidently  intended  as  a  reply  to  that  of  Mr.  Locke,  though 
it  was  utterly  impossible  to  master  the  contents.  It  was 
studied  and  pondered  over,  and  submitted  to  experts,  but 
"no  fellow  could  find  out"  what  the  deuce  it  was  about. 
Finally  it  was  returned  to  the  writer,  with  the  regrets  of  the 
committee  that  their  early  educational  advantages  had  been 
so  limited  that  they  were  unable  to  decipher  'the  epistle, 
and  requesting  a  copy  done  in  a  style  more  easily  legible. 
In  reply  to  this  the  following  was  received : 


The  Scientific  Lecturer.  91 

NEW  YORK,  December  23,  f£?j. 
MR.  FRANKLIN  D.  LOCKE: 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  I  deeply  sympathize  with  you  in  your 
lack  of  early  educational  opportunities,  but  thank  Heaven 
that  I  was  not  thus  neglected.  My  opening  intellect  was 
most  sedulously  and  skilfully  cultivated,  as  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that,  when  Alonzo  Green  came  around  winters  in  Sara- 
toga County  to  teach  writing  school,  I  took  a  tallow  candle 
and  some  paper  and  quills  and  waded  through  the  snow  for 
two  miles  that  I  might  develop  my  precocious  genius  for 
chirography.  Such  was  my  proficiency  that  I  resolved  to 
pursue  the  destiny  of  a  writing  master,  and  if  my  eyes  had 
not  failed  me  I  should  probably  have  ornamented  that 
itinerant  vocation  to  this  day. 

Yours  with  commiseration,  E.  L.  YOUMANS. 

V 

Here  followed  an  "  interpretation  "  of  the  letter 
which  had  been  "  too  many  "  for  the  chairman  and 
members  of  the  lecture  committee. 


^^fy/^f^^. 
LJu^^C^  C^%/ 

•r       y  ^ 

\jL-"  /SL<1 ^^_       I9*fr-  /^-C^ 


SPECIMEN  OF  YOUMANS'S  HANDWRITING. 


CHAPTER   VI. 
HOUSEHOLD   SCIENCE. 

1853-1860.     Age,  32-39. 

WHILE  writing  his  Class-Book  of  Chemistry  Mr. 
Youmans  had  made  a  study  of  the  physiological  ac- 
tion of  alcohol.  Following  the  best  authorities  of  that 
time — Liebig,  Percy,  Prout,  Carpenter,  and  others — 
he  regarded  alcohol  as  a  disturber  of  functions  and 
disorganizer  of  structure,  and  therefore  a  poison ;  and 
because  of  its  special  action  on  cerebral  tissue,  a  brain 
poison.  In  1853  the  question  of  prohibitory  legis- 
lation was  strongly  agitating  the  public  mind,  and 
Youmans  prepared  a  carefully  reasoned  argument  in 
favour  of  State  action,  on  the  ground  that  alcohol  in- 
cited its  victims  to  so  much  heinous  crime  as  to  justify 
society  in  legislating  against  the  traffic  in  it.  Mr. 
Greeley  cordially  adopted  these  views,  and  the  article 
was  given  an  entire  page  of  the  Tribune.  It  so  pleased 
the  teetotal  party  that  they  urged  its  writer  to  make 
a  book  of  it,  which  he  did,  under  the  title  of  Alcohol 
and  the  Constitution  of  Man.  Further  reflection  on 
the  subject,  and  change  of  conviction  as  to  the  legiti- 
macy and  efficiency  of  legislation  in  the  circumstances 
of  the  case,  led  him  to  abandon  the  ground  he  had 
taken,  so  he  let  his  book  pass  out  of  print. 

In  the  course  of  1853  his  brother  Earle  returned 
from  California,  and  Edward  was  very  anxious  to  have 

(92) 


Household  Science.  93 

him  engage  in  scientific  farming.  He  proposed  that 
Earle  should  establish  an  experimental  farm  at  Sara- 
toga, where  all  that  was  new  in  agricultural  chemistry 
should  be  practically  applied.  However,  before  mat- 
ters had  taken  definite  shape  it  became  clear  that  the 
task  would  not  be  congenial,  and  the  enterprise  was 
abandoned.  Feeling  this  disappointment  to  be  due  to 
Earle's  lack  of  scientific  training,  Edward  determined 
that  a  younger  brother — William — should  be  better 
equipped.  William  was  therefore  given  a  thorough 
scientific  education,  and  afterward  graduated  in  medi- 
cine. All  this  was  designed  with  distinct  reference  to 
the  probability  of  future  co-operation  ;  for  not  only 
had  blindness  debarred  Youmans  from  the  system- 
atic scientific  training  he  had  sought  in  early  life,  but 
impaired  vision  and  incapacity  for  enduring  protracted 
desk  work  made  a  coadjutor  necessary  to  him.  With- 
out the  co-operation  of  his  brother  William  he  could 
not  some  years  later  have  established  the  Popular  Sci- 
ence Monthly.  On  this  brother  its  editorial  duties 
gradually  devolved,  until,  at  the  last,  they  were  wholly 
transferred  to  his  charge. 

The  success  of  the  Chemical  Chart  suggested  its 
amplification  in  book  form.  A  volume  was  accord- 
ingly prepared,  and  published  in  1854,  entitled  The 
Chemical  Atlas.  The  scale  of  illustration  was  much 
smaller  than  that  of  the  Chart;  its  diagrams  portrayed 
elementary  chemistry,  the  chemistry  of  rocks  and 
strata,  series  of  homologous  compounds,  nitrogenized 
and  non-nitrogenized  principles  of  food,  and  illustrated 
isomerism  and  compound  radicals.  Combustion,  res- 
piration, fermentation,  and  the  chemistry  of  light  were 
also  made  the  subjects  of  pictures.  All  the  qualities 
which  had  recommended  the  Chemistry  equally 


94  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

marked  this  Atlas.  Both  publications  were  based  on 
the  theory  of  binary  combination  ;  when  this  was  super- 
seded by  the  current  chemical  philosophy  the  Chem- 
istry was  rewritten.  As  the  new  theories  did  not  lend 
themselves  to  graphic  illustration,  the  Chart  and  Atlas 
were  not  revised,  and  gradually  fell  out  of  use. 

Ever  since  the  preparation  of  the  Class-Book  of 
Chemistry  Mr.  Youmans  had  cherished  the  purpose 
of  preparing  a  handbook  for  the  household.  His 
studies  no  less  than  his  sympathies  and  tastes  had  led 
him  to  regard  the  home  as  a  field  which  perhaps  even 
more  imperatively  than  the  farm  demanded  science 
for  the  relief  and  economy  of  its  toil ;  while  the  cir- 
cumstance that  so  much  of  his  time  throughout  the 
years  of  blindness  was  spent  indoors  made  him  still 
more  keenly  alive  to  the  bearings  of  scientific  studies 
upon  the  processes  of  the  household.  No  work  of  his 
life  better  expresses  his  character  than  the  Handbook 
of  Household  Science,  which  after  several  years  of 
preparation  was  published  in  1857.  He  had  carefully 
studied  the  practical  applications  of  science  to  the 
heating,  lighting,  ventilation,  and  purification  of  dwell- 
ings, and  had  given  especial  attention  to  the  subject 
of  foods  in  relation  to  health  and  economy.  At  this 
time  he  was  much  aided  and  encouraged  by  his  excel- 
lent friend  Mr.  R.  H.  Manning,  a  gentleman  of  wide 
knowledge  and  sound  judgment,  who  was  building 
for  himself  a  house  in  Brooklyn,  and  was  naturally 
interested  in  whatever  might  tend  to  make  it  whole- 
some and  easy  to  manage.  Many  were  the  brisk 
discussions  over  points  in  the  Handbook-  between 
these  two  keen  men/each  with  his  marked  gifts  of 
expression.  But  on  one  point  they  were  heartily 
agreed— that  the  highest  use  of  knowledge  is  in  minis- 


Household  Science.  95 

tering-  to  the  everyday  welfare  of  mankind.  Some 
extracts  from  the  Introduction  to  the  Handbook  ably 
summarize  some  of  the  author's  favourite  views  on 
this  point : 

It  deserves  to  be  better  understood  that  the  highest 
value  of  science  is  derived  from  its  power  of  advancing  the 
public  good.  It  is  more  and  more  to  be  consecrated  to 
human  improvement  as  a  sublime  regenerative  agency. 
Working  jointly  and  harmoniously  with  the  great  moral 
forces  of  Christian  civilization,  we  believe  it  is  destined  to 
effect  extensive  social  ameliorations.  That  it  is  not  yet 
fully  accepted  in  this  relation  is  hardly  surprising.  The 
work  of  presenting  scientific  truth  in  those  forms  which 
may  best  engage  the  popular  mind  is  not  to  be  fairly  ex- 
pected of  those  who  give  their  lives  to  its  original  develop- 
ment. .  .  .  Conscious  that  the  effects  of  his  labours  are 
finally  and  always  beneficial  in  society,  the  enthusiast  of 
research  may  be  excused  his  indifference  to  their  immediate 
reception  and  uses.  But  the  formal  denial  that  the  alle- 
giance of  mind  is  supremely  due  to  the  good  of  society  is 
quite  another  affair.  The  sentiment,  too  widely  entertained 
in  learned  and  educational  circles,  that  knowledge  is  to  be 
firstly  and  chiefly  prized  for  its  own  sake  and  the  mental 
gratification  it  produces,  we  cannot  accept.  The  view 
seems  narrow  and  illiberal,  and  is  not  inspired  of  human 
sympathy.  It  took  origin  in  the  times  when  the  improve- 
ment of  man's  condition,  his  general  education  and  eleva- 
tion, were  not  dreamed  of.  It  came  from  the  ancient 
philosophy,  which  was  not  a  dispensation  of  popular  benefi- 
cence, an  all-diffusive,  ennobling  agency  in  society,  but 
confessed  its  highest  aim  to  be  a  personal  advantage,  shut 
up  in  the  individual  soul.  It  was  not  radiant  and  outflow- 
ing like  the  sun,  but  drew  all  things  inward,  engulfing  them 
in  a  maelstrom  of  selfishness. 

The  baneful  ethics  of  this  philosophy  have  given  place 


96  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

to  the  higher  and  more  generous  inculcations  of  Christian- 
ity, which  lays  upon  human  nature  its  broad  and  eternal 
requirement,  "to  do  good."  From  this  authoritative  moral 
demand  science  cannot  be  exempted.  The  power  it  confers 
is  to  be  held  and  used  as  power  is  exercised  by  God  himself, 
for  purposes  of  universal  blessing.  .  .  . 

We  place  a  high  estimate  upon  the  advantages  which 
society  may  reap  from  a  better  acquaintance  with  material 
phenomena,  for  life  is  a  stern  realm  of  cause  and  effect,  fact 
and  law.  As  such  we  would  deal  with  it  in  education,  giv- 
ing prominence  to  those  forms  of  knowledge  which  will 
work  the  largest  practical  alleviations  and  most  substantial 
improvement  throughout  the  community.  It  is  wisely  de- 
signed that  those  studies  which  may  become  in  the  highest 
degree  useful  are  also  first  in  intellectual  interest.  ...  So 
far  from  being  unfriendly  to  the  imagination,  as  is  some- 
times intimated,  science  is  its  noblest  precursor  and  ally. 
Can  that  be  unfavourable  to  this  faculty  which  infinitely 
multiplies  its  materials  and  boundlessly  multiplies  its  scope  ? 
In  unsealing  the  mysteries  of  being — in  turning  the  com- 
monest spot  into  a  museum  of  wonders — who  can  doubt 
that  science  has  opened  a  new  and  splendid  career  for  the 
play  of  the  diviner  faculties,  and  that  its  pursuit  affords  the 
most  exhilarating  as  well  as  the  healthiest  and  purest  of 
intellectual  enjoyments? 

Of  the  method  of  science  he  says : 

It  educates  the  attention  by  establishing  habits  of  ac- 
curate observation,  strengthens  the  judgment,  teaches  the 
supremacy  of  facts,  cultivates  order  in  their  classification, 
and  develops  the  reason  through  the  establishment  of  gen- 
eral principles.  It  is  claimed,  as  an  advantage  of  mathe- 
matics, that  it  deals  with  certainties,  and,  raising  the  mind 
above  the  confusions  and  insecurities  of  imperfect  knowl- 
edge, habituates  it  to  the  demand  of  absolute  truth.  That 


Household  Science.  gj 

benefits  may  arise  from  this  exalted  state  of  intellectual 
requirement  we  are  far  from  doubting,  and  are  conscious  of 
the  danger  of  resting  satisfied  with  anything  short  of  per- 
fect certitude,  where  that  can  be  attained.  But  here  again 
there  is  possibility  of  error.  Mathematical  standards  and 
processes  are  totally  inapplicable  in  the  thousandfold  con- 
tingencies of  common  experience,  and  the  mind  which  is 
deeply  imbued  with  their  spirit  is  little  attracted  to  those 
departments  of  thought  where,  after  the  utmost  labour, 
there  still  remain  doubt,  dimness,  uncertainty,  and  entangle- 
ment. And  yet  such  is  precisely  the  practical  field  in  which 
our  minds  must  daily  work.  The  mental  discipline  we  need, 
therefore,  is  not  merely  a  narrow  deductive  training  of  the 
faculties  of  calculation,  with  their  inflexible  demand  for 
exactitude,  but  such  a  systematic  and  symmetric  exercise 
of  its  several  powers  as  shall  render  it  pliant  and  adaptive, 
and  train  it  in  that  class  of  intellectual  operations  which 
shall  best  prepare  it  for  varied  and  serviceable  intellectual 
duty  in  the  practical  affairs  of  life. 

He  continues  the  argument  by  considering  educa- 
tion in  its  broad  relations  to  liberty  and  progress : 

Education,  from  the  earliest  time,  has  been  under  the 
patronage  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  despotisms,  whose 
necessary  policy  has  been  the  repression  of  free  thought. 
The  state  of  mind  forever  insisted  on  has  been  that  of  sub- 
missive acceptance  of  authority.  Instead  of  laying  open 
the  limitations,  uncertainties,  and  conflicts  of  knowledge 
which  arise  from  its  progressive  nature,  the  spirit  of  the 
general  teaching  has  been  that  all  things  are  settled,  and 
that  wisdom  has  reached  its  last  fulfilment.  Instead  of 
encouraging  bold  inquiry  and  inciting  to  noble  conquest, 
the  effect  has  rather  been  to  reduce  the  student  to  a  mere 
tame,  unquestioning  recipient  of  established  formulas  and 
time-honoured  dogmas.  It  is  obvious  on  all  sides  that  this 


98  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

state  of  things  has  been  deeply  disturbed.  The  introduc- 
tion of  republicanism,  with  political  freedom  of  speech  and 
action ;  the  advent  of  Protestantism,  with  religious  liberty 
of  thought;  and  the  splendid  march  of  science,  which  has 
enlarged  the  circle  of  knowledge,  multiplied  the  elements 
of  power,  and  scattered  social  and  industrial  revolution 
right  and  left  for  the  last  hundred  years — these  new  dis- 
pensations have  invaded  the  old  repose  and  fired  the  minds 
of  multitudes  with  a  new  consciousness  of  power.  Yet  we 
cannot  forget  that  our  education  still  retains  much  of  its 
ancient  spirit,  is  yet  largely  scholastic  and  arbitrarily  au- 
thoritative. We  believe  that  this  evil  may  be  to  a  consid- 
erable degree  corrected  by  a  frank  admission  of  the  incom- 
pleteness of  much  of  our  knowledge;  by  showing  that  it  is 
necessarily  imperfect,  and  that  the  only  just  and  honest 
course  often  involves  reservation  of  opinion  and  suspension 
of  judgment.  This  may  be  consonant  neither  with  the 
teacher's  pride  nor  the  pupil's  ambition,  nevertheless  it  is 
imperatively  demanded.  We  need  to  acquire  more  humility 
of  mind  and  a  sincerer  reverence  for  truth ;  to  understand 
that  much  which  passes  for  knowledge  is  unsettled,  and 
that  we  should  be  constant  learners  through  life.  The 
active  influences  of  society,  as  well  as  the  schoolroom, 
teach  far  other  lessons.  We  are  committed  in  early  child- 
hood to  blind  partisanships — political  and  religious — and 
drive  on  through  life  in  the  unquestioning  and  unscrupu- 
lous advocacy  of  doctrines  which  are  quite  as  likely  to 
be  false  as  true,  and  are  perhaps  utterly  incapable  of 
honest  definitive  adjustment.  Science  inculcates  a  differ- 
ent spirit,  which  is  most  forcibly  illustrated  in  those 
branches  where  absolute  certainty  of  conclusion  is  difficult 
of  attainment. 

Coming  to  the  details  of  his  volume,  after  pointing 
out  that  while  the  principal  statements  in  the  chapters 
on  heat,  light,  and  air  were  comparatively  well  estab- 


Household  Science.  99 

lished,  on  the  other  hand  our  knowledge  of  the  physio- 
logical effects  of  foods  was  in  a  much  less  advanced 
condition,  he  closed  as  follows : 

An  important  result  of  the  more  earnest  and  general 
pursuit  of  science  by  the  young  will  be  to  find  out  and  de- 
velop a  larger  number  of  minds  having  natural  aptitudes 
for  research  and  investigation.  As  there  are  born  poets 
and  born  musicians,  so  also  there  are  born  inventors  and 
born  experimenters — minds  originally  fitted  to  combine  and 
mould  the  plastic  materials  of  Nature  into  numberless  forms 
of  usefulness  and  value.  It  is  a  vulgar  error  that  the  work 
of  discovery  and  improvement  is  already  mainly  accom- 
plished. The  thoughtful  well  understand  that  man  has 
hardly  yet  entered  upon  that  magnificent  career  of  con- 
quest in  the  peaceful  domain  of  Nature  to  which  he  is  des- 
tined, and  which  will  be  hastened  by  nothing  so  much  as  a 
more  general  kindling  of  the  minds  of  the  young  with  en- 
thusiasm for  science.  The  harvest  awaits  the  reapers.  How 
strange  that  man  should  have  neglected  it  so  long !  Fuel, 
air,  water,  and  the  metals,  as  we  see  them  acting  together 
now  in  the  living,  labouring  steam  engine,  have  been  wait- 
ing from  the  foundation  of  the  world  for  a  chance  to  relieve 
man  of  the  worst  drudgeries  of  toil.  Long  and  fruitlessly 
did  the  sunbeam  court  the  opportunity  of  leaving  upon  the 
earth  permanent  impressions  of  the  things  he  revealed  ; 
while  the  lightning,  though  seemingly  a  rollicking  spirit  of 
the  skies,  was  yet  impatient  to  be  pressed  into  the  quiet  and 
useful  service  of  man.  Can  there  be  a  doubt  that  other 
powers  and  forces,  equally  potent  and  marvellous,  await  the 
discipline  of  human  genius  ?  Not  in  vain  was  man  called 
upon,  at  the  very  morning  of  creation,  to  "  subdue  the 
earth."  Already  has  he  justified  the  bestowment  of  the 
viceroyal  honour.  Who  shall  speak  of  the  possibilities  that 
are  awaiting  him  in  the  future  ? 


ioo  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

The  Handbook  of  Household  Science  was  not 
the  ordinary  collection  of  scrappy  comment,  recipe, 
and  apothegm,  but  a  thoroughly  scientific  treatise  on 
air,  water,  fuel,  food,  and  cleansing  materials,  writ-, 
ten  in  a  simple  and  lucid  style,  and  it  is  still  a  sound 
and  authoritative  book.  Mr.  Youmans  had  much  in 
mind  the  need  of  such  a  book  in  girls'  schools,  and  was 
disappointed  at  the  comparatively  small  demand  for  it 
in  that  quarter.  Teachers  complained  that  it  was  too 
full,  that  its  study  consumed  too  large  a  portion  of  the 
time  allotted  to  "  the  course,"  and  to  meet  this  objec- 
tion he  sometimes  spoke  of  condensing  the  volume. 
But  the  general  demand  for  the  book  was  so  satisfac- 
tory that  he  was  led  to  amplify  rather  than  to  reduce 
it.  In  this  mood  he  planned  a  comprehensive  House- 
hold Cyclopaedia,  and  after  working  at  it  from  time 
to  time,  as  opportunity  offered,  for  the  rest  of  his  life, 
he  bequeathed  to  his  brother  William  the  task  of  com- 
pleting it. 

In  connection  with  the  popularization  of  science, 
the  following  letter  to  Mr.  W.  T.  Henderson,  of  Cin- 
cinnati, who  had  charge  of  the  common-school  libra- 
ries of  Ohio,  is  an  illustration  of  the  zeal  with  which 
Youmans  was  sure  to  extend  a  helping  hand  to  any 
fellow-worker : 

NEW  YORK,  October  <?,  1860. 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  I  send  you  this  day  a  copy  of  a  book, 
What  may  be  Learned  from  a  Tree,  which  possibly  may 
not  have  fallen  under  your  notice.  I  do  it  though  I  am 
assured  that  the  matter  of  books  for  the  Ohio  libraries  is 
closed  hermetically;  yet,  in  the  hope  that  there  may  be 
somewhere  some  possible  slip  or  gap  or  surplus,  I  never- 
theless write.  My  object  in  soliciting  your  attention  to  the 
book  is,  first,  I  am  persuaded  you  have  not  a  better  book 


Household  Science.  101 

on  your  list,  and  few  equal  to  it  in  interest,  instructiveness, 
and  adaptation  to  popular  want.  It  is  a  capital  book, 
clearly  written,  reliable,  thoroughly  posted  in  its  science, 
suggestive,  and  abounds  in  lessons  of  wisdom  for  the  con- 
duct of  life  which  have  a  high  value,  as  they  are  linked  on 
so  directly  to  the  order  of  creation — to  the  life  of  so  famil- 
iar and  beautiful  an  object  as  the  living  tree.  Secondly,  I 
am  moved  to  write  and  strike  for  any  forlorn  chance  there 
may  be  by  the  fact  that  the  author  is  a  poor,  struggling 
man  of  Philadelphia,  without  practical  tact,  who  can't  find 
the  handles  of  this  world,  and  deserves  that  others  should 
help  him.  His  book  has  been  out  a  year,  and  six  hundred 
copies  have  been  sold,  almost  entirely  by  himself.  Dr. 
Draper,  of  this  city,  called  my  attention  to  the  book  and 
the  man.  I  went  on  to  Philadelphia  and  dug  him  up — a 
splendid  botanist,  a  fine  thinker,  yet  in  all  that  appertains 
to  this  world  a  poor  creature.  The  house  of  Appleton  have 
kindly  promised  me  to  do  what  they  can  to  push  the  book 
into  better  notice.  I  have  done  what  I  could  for  the  author 
and  his  work  gratuitously.  I  neither  expect  nor  want  any- 
thing for  my  trouble,  time,  or  expense.  The  publishers 
say  they  would  be  glad  to  help  without  expecting  to  make 
much  in  the  matter,  and,  all  this  being*  the  case,  I  venture 
to  write  you  as  I  have  done.  If  the  book  pleases  you  and 
it  lies  in  your  power,  pray  give  us  a  little  assistance. 

Very  truly  yours,  E.  L.  YOUMANS. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

FIRST   ACQUAINTANCE   WITH    HERBERT   SPENCER. 
i860.      Age,  J p. 

IN  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  all  the  shining  pages 
of  his  History  of  the  Spanish  Conquest  in  America  Sir 
Arthur  Helps  describes  the  way  in  which,  through 
"  some  fitness  of  the  season,  whether  in  great  scientific 
discoveries  or  in  the  breaking  into  light  of  some  great 
moral  cause,  the  same  processes  are  going  on  in  many 
minds,  and  it  seems  as  if  they  communicated  with  each 
other  invisibly.  We  may  imagine  that  all  good  pow- 
ers aid  the  '  new  light/  and  brave  and  wise  thoughts 
about  it  float  aloft  in  the  atmosphere  of  thought  as 
downy  seeds  are  borne  over  the  fruitful  face  of  the 
earth"  (vol.  iii,  page  113).  The  thinker  who  elabo- 
rates a  new  system  of  philosophy  deeper  and  more  com- 
prehensive than  any  yet  known  to  mankind,  though 
he  may  work  in  solitude,  nevertheless  does  not  work 
alone.  The  very  fact  which  makes  his  great  scheme 
of  thought  a  success  and  not  a  failure  is  the  fact  that 
it  puts  into  definite  and  coherent  shape  the  ideas  which 
many  people  are  more  or  less  vaguely  and  loosely  en- 
tertaining, and  that  it  carries  to  a  grand  and  trium- 
phant conclusion  processes  of  reasoning  in  which  many 
persons  have  already  begun  taking  the  earlier  steps. 
This  community  in  mental  trend  between  the  immor- 
tal discoverer  and  many  of  the  brightest  contempo- 


First  Acquaintance  with  Herbert  Spencer.        103 

rary  minds,  far  from  diminishing  the  originality  of  his 
work,  constitutes  the  feature  of  it  which  makes  it  a 
permanent  acquisition  for  mankind,  and  distinguishes 
it  from  the  eccentric  philosophies  which  now  and  then 
come  up  to  startle  the  world  for  a  while,  but  are  pres- 
ently discarded  and  forgotten.  The  history  of  mod- 
ern physics—as  in  the  case  of  the  correlation  of  forces 
and  the  undulatory  theory  of  light — furnishes  us  with 
many  instances  of  wise  thoughts  floating  like  downy 
seeds  in  the  atmosphere  until  the  moment  has  come  for 
them  to  take  root.  And  so  it  has  been  with  the  great- 
est achievement  of  modern  thinking — the  doctrine  of 
evolution.  Students  and  investigators  in  all  depart- 
ments, alike  in  the  physical  and  in  the  historical  sci- 
ences, were  fairly  driven  by  the  nature  of  the  phenom- 
ena before  them  into  some  hypothesis,  more  or  less 
vague,  of  gradual  and  orderly  change  or  development. 
The  world  was  ready  and  waiting  for  Herbert  Spen- 
cer's mighty  work  when  it  came,  and  it  was  for  that 
reason  that  it  was  so  quickly  triumphant  over  the  old 
order  of  thought.  The  victory  has  been  so  thorough, 
swift,  and  decisive  that  it  will  take  another  generation 
to  narrate  the  story  of  it  so  as  to  do  it  full  justice. 
Meanwhile,  people's  minds  are  apt  to  be  somewhat 
dazed  with  the  rapidity  and  wholesale  character  of  the 
change;  and  nothing  is  more  common  than  to  see  them 
adopting  Mr.  Spencer's  ideas  without  recognizing  them 
as  his  or  knowing  whence  they  got  them.  As  fast  as 
Mr.  Spencer  could  set  forth  his  generalizations  they 
were  taken  hold  of  here  and  there  by  special  workers, 
each  in  his  own  department,  and  utilized  therein.  His 
general  system  was  at  once  seized,  assimilated,  and  set 
forth  with  new  illustrations  by  serious  thinkers  who 
were  already  groping  in  the  regions  of  abstruse  thought 


IO4  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

which  the  master's  vision  pierced  so  clearly.  And 
thus  the  doctrine  of  evolution  has  come  to  be  insep- 
arably interfused  with  the  whole  mass  of  thinking  in 
our  day  and  generation.  I  do  not  mean  to  imply  that 
people  commonly  entertain  very  clear  ideas  about  it, 
for  clear  ideas  on  any  subject  are  not  altogether  com- 
mon. I  suspect  that  a  good  many  people  would  hesi- 
tate if  asked  to  state  exactly  what  Newton's  law  of 
gravitation  is ;  a  good  many,  doubtless,  would  stop  be- 
fore arriving  at  that  statement  about  inverse  squares 
which  comprises  the  pith  of  the  whole  matter. 

Among  the  very  few  men  in  America  forty  years 
ago  who  were  feeling  their  way  toward  some  such  uni- 
fied conception  of  Nature  as  Spencer  was  about  to  set 
forth  in  all  its  glory — among  the  very  few  who  were 
thus  prepared  to  grasp  the  doctrine  of  evolution  at 
once  and  expound  it  with  fresh  illustrations  Edward 
Youmans  was  the  first  in  the  field.  It  was  in  the 
course  of  the  year  1856,  while  he  was  at  work  upon 
the  Household  Science,  that  he  fell  in  with  an  article 
upon  Spencer's  Principles  of  Psychology  in  the  Lon- 
don Medico-Chirurgical  Review,  written  by  Dr.  J.  D. 
Morell,  author  of  some  books  on  philosophy  more  read 
then  than  now.  Youmans  was  so  deeply  impressed  by 
the  article  that  he  at  once  sent  to  London  for  a  copy 
of  the  book,  which  had  been  published  in  the  preced- 
ing year.  It  will  be  observed  that  this  was  four  years 
before  the  Darwinian  theory  was  announced  in  the  first 
edition  of  the  Origin  of  Species.  Toward  the  end  of 
that  book  Mr.  Darwin  looked  forward  to  a  "  distant 
future  "  when  the  conception  of  gradual  development 
might  be  applied  to  the  phenomena  of  conscious  intel- 
ligence. He  had  not  then  learned  of  the  existence  of 
such  a  book  as  the  Principles  of  Psychology.  In  later 


First  Acquaintance  with  Herbert  Spencer.       105 

editions  he  was  obliged  to  modify  his  statement,  and 
confess  that,  instead  of  looking  so  far  forward,  he  had 
better  have  looked  about  him.  I  have  more  than  once 
heard  Mr.  Darwin  laugh  merrily  over  this,  at  his  own 
expense. 

When  the  book  arrived  from  London  it  found  You- 
mans  deeply  engrossed  in  his  own  work.  As  he  cut 
the  leaves  and  glanced  over  the  pages,  they  seemed 
immensely  difficult.  His  sister  had  more  leisure  ;  so 
he  gave  the  formidable  volume  to  her,  to  see  what  she 
could  make  of  it.  Finding  in  the  preface  a  suggestion 
that  readers  unfamiliar  with  such  abstruse  studies 
might  perhaps  find  it  for  their  advantage  to  read  the 
third  and  fourth  divisions  of  the  work  before  attempt- 
ing the  first  and  second,  she  profited  by  the  hint  and 
soon  became  deeply  interested. 

After  struggling  for  a  while  with  the  weighty 
problems  of  this  book — the  most  profound  treatise 
upon  mental  phenomena  that  any  human  mind  has 
yet  produced — Youmans  saw  that  the  theory  ex- 
pounded in  it  was  a  long  stride  in  the  direction  of 
a  general  theory  of  evolution.  His  interest  in  this 
subject  received  a  new  and  fresh  stimulus.  He  read 
Social  Statics,  and  began  to  recognize  Spencer's  hand 
in  the  anonymous  articles  in  the  quarterlies,  in  whicff 
he  was  then  announcing  and  illustrating  various  por- 
tions or  segments  of  his  newly  discovered  law  of  evo- 
lution. One  evening  in  February,  1860,  as  Youmans 
was  calling  at  Mr.  Manning's  house,  in  Brooklyn,  the 
Rev.  Samuel  Johnson,  of  Salem,  showed  him  the 
famous  prospectus  of  the  great  series  of  philosophical 
works  which  Spencer  proposed  to  issue  by  subscrip- 
tion. Mr.  Johnson  had  obtained  this  from  Edward 
Silsbee,  of  Salem,  who  was  one  of  the  very  first  Ameri- 


io6  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

cans  to  become  interested  in  Spencer.  The  very  next 
day  Youmans  wrote  the  following  letter  to  Spencer, 
offering  his  aid  in  procuring  American  subscriptions, 
and  otherwise : 

NEW  YORK,  February  23,  1860. 

DEAR  SIR  :  My  friend,  Samuel  Johnson,  Unitarian  cler- 
gyman, of  Salem,  Mass.,  yesterday  called  my  attention  to  a 
letter  and  circular  from  yourself,  proposing  a  reissue  of 
your  writings.  I  was  not  only  greatly  pleased  with  the 
idea,  but  the  circumstance  was  especially  fortunate  for  me, 
as  it  gave  me  a  clue  to  your  whereabouts,  which  I  had  for 
some  time  sought.  I  was  on  the  point  of  writing  to  Dr. 
Chapman*  for  your  address.  My  purpose  was  this:  I 
meditate  the  compilation  of  a  volume  designed  to  present 
the  increasing  claims  of  science  upon  teachers  and  the 
directors  of  education,  to  contain  the  addresses  of  Faraday, 
Whewell,  Tyndall,  Paget,  and  Daubeny  before  the  Royal 
Institution,  on  the  popular  claims  of  their  respective 
branches  of  science,  together  with  the  address  of  Agassiz 
on  kindred  points,  and  your  own  article  in  the  North 
British  (I  think),  which  was  omitted  from  the  edition  of 
your  essays.  There  is  still  another  article,  the  opening 
one  in  the  Westminster  for  last  July — What  Knowledge  is 
of  most  Worth — which  I  wish  also  to  include,  and  my  so- 
ijcitation  was  to  fii}d  its  authorship.  I  concluded  before  I 
read  a  page  of  it  that  you  wrote  it;  the  full  perusal 
strengthened  my  conviction  ;  yet,  of  course,  as  I  may  be 
mistaken,  I  wish  to  find  out  about  it.  I  might  have 
applied  to  the  editor  of  the  Westminster,  but  Scott,  the 
republisher,  tells  me  the  conductors  are  often  shy  and 
delicate  about  giving  this  kind  of  information.  I  should 
therefore  be*  glad  of  an  assurance  from  yourself  ;  and  if  I 

*  John  Chapman,  M.  D.,  at   that   time   editor  of  the   Westminster 
Review. 


First  Acquaintance  ivit/i  Herbert  Spencer.       107 

happen  to  have  been  mistaken,  would  you  not  probably  be 
able  without  trouble  to  inform  me  who  the  author  is  ? 

Respecting  the  plan  of  your  publication  I  had  no 
opportunity  to  learn  anything,  as  I  had  not  time  to  read 
the  circular.  But  whatever  you  propose  in  the  matter  I 
fully  acce'pt,  and  will  most  gladly  do  anything  in  my  power 
to  forward  the  enterprise.  I  have  published  several  ele- 
mentary books  by  which  I  have  been  somewhat  mixed  up 
with  book  men  and  the  book  business,  and  this  circumstance 
may  afford  me  some  opportunity  to  aid  the  object.  I  am 
more  or  less  connected  with  the  lyceum  system  through- 
out the  country,  and,  dealing  with  scientific  topics,  I  fall  in 
with  the  class  of  men  who  would  take  most  interest  in  your 
current  thought.  Lecturing,  however,  is  now  about  closed 
for  the  season. 

I  got  the  impression  that  the  push  was  first  to  be  made 
here,  and  that  the  project  might  be  somewhat  contingent 
upon  the  result.  How  many  subscribers  will  you  need  here 
to  justify  the  undertaking  ?  I  wish  you  would  forward  me 
a  circular,  or,  if  possible,  several,  with  any  accompanying 
statement  that  may  be  desirable.  If  you  should  send  sev- 
eral, you  might  leave  them  at  16  Little  Britain,  which  is 
the  London  depot  of  the  house  I  publish  with  (D.  Appleton 
&  Co.).  They  will  forward  with  goods.  If  I  succeed  in 
shortly  bringing  out  the  volume  I  spoke  of,  it  will  furnish 
additional  means  of  advancing  the  object. 

I  have  to  thank  you  most  earnestly  for  the  pleasure  and 
advantage  I  have  derived  from  the  yet  too  hasty  and  frag- 
mentary perusal  of  your  books ;  and  I  am  justified  in  doing 
the  same  thing  in  behalf  of  quite  a  number  of  friends  for 
whom  I  have  had  the  great  gratification  of  importing  sev- 
eral of  your  volumes.  And  now  I  pray  you  excuse  this 
informal  Yankee  short  cut  to  business.  If  it  be  your  pleas- 
ure to  write  me,  please  direct  to  the  care  of  D.  Appleton  & 
Co.,  New  York  city. 

Very  respectfully,  E.  I,  YOUMANS. 


io8  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

P.  S. — Again:  a  friend  of  mine,  an  admirer  of  your 
writings,  has  expressed  a  frequent  and  earnest  desire  to 
get  your  portrait.  I  share  the  sentiment.  Have  you  a 
spare  engraving  or  photograph  to  send  over  the  sea?  You 
see,  we  take  the  utmost  advantage  of  our  Yankee  reputa- 
tion. E.  L.  Y. 

Mr.  Spencer's  cordial  reply  was  as  follows : 

24  OAKLEY  SQUARE,  LONDON,  26  March,  1860, 

DEAR  SIR  :  I  am  greatly  obliged  by  your  letter  of  23 
February,  and  must  apologize  for  having  so  long  delayed 
answering  it,  partly  on  the  ground  that  I  have  been  over- 
done with  correspondence  in  the  furtherance  of  my  project 
here,  and  partly  on  the  ground  that  my  plans  were  scarcely 
mature. 

Referring  to  the  points  of  your  letter  in  the  order  in 
which  they  stand,  let  me  first  undeceive  you  as  to  the  nature 
of  the  series  of  works  to  be  published.  I  fear  that  I  must 
have  used  some  misleading  expression,  for  I  by  no  means 
intend  a  "reissue  of  my  writings."  Four  fifths  will  be 
wholly  new,  the  parts  written  will  be  in  most  cases  greatly 
developed,  and  the  whole  will  assume  an  organization  not 
even  indicated  in  anything  I  have  as  yet  published.  The 
new  organization  will  absorb,  digest,  and  reorganize  the 
fragments  already  written,  along  with  a  far  larger  mass 
that  is  unwritten. 

I  very  gladly  accept  the  assistance  you  so  kindly  offer 
in  furthering  my  scheme  by  obtaining  subscribers  to  my 
series  in  the  United  States.  I  have  just  written  to  my 
friend  Mr.  E.  A.  Silsbee,  of  Salem,  Mass,  (to  whom  I  sent 
the  circular  you  saw),  inclosing  him  a  revised  circular  con- 
taining, with  alterations,  a  list  of  the  first  subscribers  in 
England,  including  a  number  of  the  chief  names  in  science 
and  literature.  This  revised  circular,  with  its  appended 
names,  I  have  suggested  to  Mr.  Silsbee  to  reprint  (at  my 


First  Acquaintance  with  Herbert  Spencer.        109 

expense)  for  distribution  in  the  United  States.  I  have  sug- 
gested that,  in  addition  to  the  leading  English  names,  there 
be  added  to  the  American  edition  of  the  circular  as  many 
American  names  of  note  as  can  be  readily  obtained.  My 
friend  Prof.  Huxley  has  suggested  Prof.  Dana,  Prof.  Asa 
Gray,  Prof.  Leidy,  and  Dr.  Draper  as  likely  men,  and  I 
have  hinted  to  Mr.  Silsbee  that  possibly  you  would  allow 
your  name  to  be  included.  If  you  could,  from  your  knowl- 
edge of  men  of  note  throughout  the  States,  suggest  to  Mr. 
Silsbee  any  other  names  of  weight  which  might  be  got,  it 
would  be  a  service. 

By  the  time  that  the  American  edition  of  the  circular  is 
fully  printed  I  propose  writing  again  to  Mr.  Silsbee  with 
respect  to  its  distribution.  Possibly  through  your  con- 
nection with  the  lyceum  system,  which  you  are  so  good  as 
to  name  in  relation  to  the  matter,  you  would  be  able  to 
facilitate  this.  If  you  could  furnish  Mr.  Silsbee  with  the 
names  of  any  who  would  act  as  local  distributors,  it  would 
be  an  important  aid.  You  see,  I  am  taking  you  at  your 
word,  and  am,  I  fear,  imposing  on  you  considerable  trouble. 
The  fact,  however,  that  I  am  unable  to  do  anything  myself 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  have  therefore  to 
trust  to  those  who  feel  an  interest  in  the  matter,  must  be 
my  excuse. 

Your  question,  "  How  many  American  subscribers  will 
suffice?"  I  am  not  able  to  answer.  My  hope  is,  that  the 
circulation  in  England  and  America  together  will  suffice; 
and  until  the  result  is  known  here  (the  final  issue  of  the 
circular  not  having  yet  taken  place)  I  cannot  say  what 
number  from  the  United  States  will  be  needed  to  make  up 
an  adequate  list. 

Referring  to  your  question  concerning  the  article,  What 
Knowledge  is  of  most  Worth  ?  you  are  right  in  ascribing 
it  to  me.  I  should,  however,  regret  to  see  it  and  the  one 
from  the  North  British  included  in  the  volume  you  con- 


1 10  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

template,  because  I  am  myself  hoping,  in  the  course  of  a 
year,  to  republish  these  articles,  along  with  an  equal  bulk  of 
matter  on  the  same  topic,  in  the  shape  of  a  volume  on 
education,  and  I  was  thinking  of  exporting  part  of  the 
edition  to  the  United  States,  or  else  agreeing  with  an 
American  house  to  reprint  it. 

With  many  thanks  for  your  expressions  of  sympathy  and 
offers  of  aid,  believe  me,  dear  sir,  faithfully  yours, 

HERBERT  SPENCER. 

With  this  correspondence  began  the  friendship 
which  was  one  of  the  warmest  in  Youmans's  life,  and 
which  gave  added  zest  to  all  his  subsequent  labours. 
As  the  friendship  began  long  before  there  was  any 
adequate  recognition  of  Spencer's  genius  by  the  pub- 
lic, Youmans  was  able  to  render  him  great  service. 
His  aid  was  from  the  outset  important  in  a  material 
sense,  and  of  still  higher  value  was  his  intelligent  and 
enthusiastic  sympathy. 

Mr.  Spencer's  first  idea  was  to  have  his  projected 
series  of  books  published  in  Boston ;  and  there  was 
some  talk  of  Messrs.  Ticknor  &  Fields — then  at  the 
Old  Corner  Bookstore — undertaking  to  conduct  the 
series  in  case  subscriptions  enough  should  be  received. 
But  when,  in  the  course  of  1860,  Mr.  Spencer's  book 
on  Education,  above  referred  to,  was  offered  to  Tick- 
nor &  Fields,  they  declined  to  publish  it,  which  was, 
of  course,  a  grave  mistake  from  the  business  point 
of  view.  Youmans,  however,  was  not  sorry  for  this, 
for  it  gave  him  the  opportunity  to  place  Spencer's 
books  where  he  could  do  most  to  forward  their 
success. 

Allusion  has  already  been  made  to  his  chance  visit 
to  the  house  of  D.  Appleton  &  Co.  in  the  days  of  his 
blindness.  It  was  an  auspicious  event  for  all  con- 


First  Acquaintance  with  Herbert  Spencer.        in 

cerned.  In  the  first  place,  the  Appletons  became  the 
publishers  of  Youmans's  books.  His  sagacity  and  his 
magnetic  personality  prevailed  with  them  as  with  al- 
most everybody.  By  degrees  he  became  an  adviser 
as  regarded  matters  of  publication,  and  it  was  largely 
through  his  far-sighted  advice  that  the  Appletons 
entered  upon  the  publication  of  such  books  as  those 
of  Buckle,  Darwin,  Huxley,  Tyndall,  Haeckel,  and 
others  of  like  character,  always  paying  a  royalty  to 
the  authors,  the  same  as  to  American  authors,  in  spite 
of  the  absence  of  an  international  copyright  law.  As 
publishers  of  books  of  this  sort  the  Appletons  have 
come  to  be  pre-eminent.  It  is  obvious  enough  nowa- 
days that  such  books  are  profitable  from  a  business 
point  of  view  ;  but  thirty  years  and  more  ago  this 
was  by  no  means  obvious,  and  I  doubt  if  there  was 
any  other  house  in  the  United  States  that  would  not 
have  been  at  least  very  likely  to  view  the  matter  in 
the  same  light  as  Messrs.  Ticknor  &  Fields.  The 
Americans  were  at  that  time  excessively  provincial. 
There  was  much  intellectual  eagerness,  along  with 
very  meagre  knowledge,  and  few  persons  had  access 
to  authoritative  sources  of  information.  Reprints  of 
English  books,  translations  from  French  and  German, 
were  sadly  behind  the  times.  In  the  Connecticut 
town  where  I  lived  people  would  begin  to  wake  up  to 
the  existence  of  some  great  European  book  or  system 
of  thought  after  it  had  been  before  the  world  any- 
where from  a  dozen  to  fifty  years.  In  those  days, 
therefore,  it  required  some  boldness  to  undertake  the 
reprinting  of  new  scientific  books,  and  none  have  rec- 
ognized more  freely  than  the  Appletons  the  impor- 
tance of  the  part  played  by  Youmans  in  this  matter. 
His  work  as  adviser  to  a  great  publishing  house  and 


112  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

his  work  as  lecturer  re-enforced  each  other,  and  thus 
his  capacity  for  usefulness  was  much  increased. 

When  Mr.  Spencer's  book  on  Education  failed  to 
find  favour  in  Boston,  the  Appletons  took  it,  and  thus 
presently  secured  the  management  of  the  philosoph- 
ical series.  This  brought  Youmans  into  permanent  re- 
lations with  Spencer  and  his  work,  as  begins  to  appear 
in  the  following  letter : 

NEW  YORK,  October  5,  1860. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  received  your  kind  letter  of  Septem- 
ber nth,  and  was  grieved  to  hear  of  your  unusually  dis- 
turbed health.  I  trust  it  is  not  to  continue.  My  apology 
for  intruding  upon  you  now  is,  that  after  the  arrangement 
had  been  effected  Mr.  Silsbee  had  not  time  to  send  a  letter 
by  the  steamer  to-day,  and  I  therefore  write  in  his  place. 
Mr.  Silsbee  probably  informed  you  that  Ticknor  &  Fields 
declined  to  publish  the  book  on  Education.  He  further- 
more said  there  was  no  chance  in  Boston,  and  delegated 
me  to  arrange,  if  possible,  in  New  York.  He  did  not  re- 
strict me  to  specific  terms,  but  as  the  work  had  be-en  gen- 
erously offered  to  Ticknor  &  Fields  upon  their  own  condi- 
tions, he  committed  it  to  me  in  the  same  liberal  spirit. 
From  mixed  considerations  I  was  anxious  that  the  Apple- 
tons  should  publish  the  book.  There  is  more  import  in  their 
imprint  than  in  that  of  any  other  house  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic.  They  have  been  established  nearly  half  a  cen- 
tury, and  have  won  a  pre-eminent  reputation  for  sterling 
and  valuable  books.  I  therefore  thought  it  would  be  well- 
indeed,  best — for  the  book  itself,  and  also  as  an  introduc- 
tion of  its  author  to  our  people;  and,  besides,  the  firm  have 
treated  me  with  great  personal  kindness,  and  I  was  anxious 
they  should  have  the  good  fortune  to  publish  the  book. 
Furthermore,  I  have  myself  put  forth  some  trifles  in  the 
way  of  science  for  the  multitude,  and  I  was  ambitious  that 
they  might  go  in  company  with  your  masterly  exposition 


First  Acquaintance  with  Herbert  Spencer.        113 

of  the  educational  claims  of  science.  I  thought  also  that 
if  our  house  had  the  management  of  the  work  I  might  pos- 
sibly in  various  small  ways  contribute  to  urge  it  forward; 
for  we  have  found  on  this  side  that  the  straight  and  narrow 
way  that  leads  right  up  to  the  heaven  of  success  is  travers- 
able  by  but  one  motor — namely,  push.  And  although  in  a 
house  of  great  business,  with  numerous  departments  in 
rigorous  discipline,  the  general  movement  is  steady  and 
automatic,  and  all  things  thrown  into  the  hopper  are 
ground  out  at  the  usual  rate,  still  the  machinery  is  not 
without  reducing  and  multiplying  gear  and  some  chance 
for  crowding.  So  I  asked  the  gentlemen  to  drive  on  with 
the  book  and  do  the  best  they  could  for  the  author.  They 
promised,  and  when  Mr.  W.  H.  Appleton  arrived  from  Eu- 
rope, the  day  before  yesterday  morning,  one  hundred  pages 
of  the  work  had  been  stereotyped.  I  was  anxious  to  get 
the  volume  on  Education  out  at  the  earliest  moment  and 
before  the  first  part  of  the  Series  arrives.  We  do  not  exactly 
know  about  that  "  Unknowable  "  ;  we  have  great  faith  in  it 
undoubtedly,  but  we  are  sure  of  the  weapon  in  hand  and 
would  prefer  to  open  the  campaign  with  it.  I  therefore  by 
no  means  regret  the  delay  of  the  first  part,  nor  need  you 
trouble  yourself  to  hasten  it. 

After  explaining-  that  the  chance  for  the  series  at 
Ticknor  &  Fields's  was  very  discouraging,  and  that  it 
was  better  that  Mr.  Spencer  should  transact  business 
with  but  one  house,  he  says : 

Mr.  W.  H.  Appleton  told  me  yesterday  that  the  firm 
would  take  the  series  and  do  the  best  it  can  with  them.  I 
hope  this  change  will  be  satisfactory  to  you,  and  that  you 
may  not  have  placed  the  names  of  Ticknor  &  Fields  upon 
the  first  part,  nor  have  sent  the  volumes  yet.  If  you  should 
have  printed  their  names  on  the  title-page  and  cover,  and 
not  have  forwarded  them,  I  would  earnestly  ask  if  it  will 
6 


114  Edward  Livingston   Yomnans. 

not  be  desirable  to  change  the  covers  and  print  "  D.  Ap- 
pleton  &  Co.,  New  York,"  thereon  instead  ?  The  copies 
of  your  other  work  will  be  brought  from  Ticknor  &  Fields 
to  New  York,  as  they  have  declared  they  cannot  sell  them. 
Allow  me  to  suggest  that  the  terms  Mr.  Appleton  proposes 
for  the  Education — ten  per  cent  of  the  sales  to  the  author 
after  preliminary  expenses  are  paid — is  all  that  I  receive, 
and  the  usual  rate  here,  except  where  a  popular  author  can 
dictate  terms. 

And  now,  dear  sir,  I  pray  you  do  not  think  of  me  as 
having  officiously  thrust  myself  into  your  business.  Mat- 
ters seemed  to  have  "  opened,"  as  the  Friends  say,  and  I 
"  felt  required  "  to  take  hold.  If  in  the  slightest  manner  I 
can  contribute  to  advance  your  interests  it  will  be  an  un- 
speakable pleasure,  more  especially  when  I  remember  that 
in  so  doing  I  am  serving  the  public  in  the  most  efficient 
manner  in  my  power.  I  hope  the  course  things  have  taken 
will  not  be  unsatisfactory  to  you  nor  prove  a  hindrance  to 
your  valuable  projects. 

With  best  wishes  for  the  restoration  of  your  health,  I 
am,  yours  most  truly,  E.  L.  YOUMANS. 

As  a  result  of  these  negotiations  the  Appletons 
presently  undertook  to  issue  the  philosophical  series 
in  parts,  concurrently  with  the  publication  in  London. 
They  also  published  a  reprint  of  Social  Statics,  with 
a  portrait  of  Mr.  Spencer  furnished  by  Mr.  Manning. 
A  selection  from  the  Essays,  Scientific,  Political,  and 
Speculative,  was  afterward  published,  under  the  title, 
Illustrations  of  Universal  Progress.  This  was  a  happy 
thought ;  for  the  general  reader  has  a  mind  of  very 
limited  capacity,  and  usually  likes  to  take  his  philoso- 
phy in  morsels,  so  that  doubtless  many  persons  were 
able  to  obtain  some  notion  of  evolution  in  this  way 
who  would  have  been  simply  wearied  by  the  mag- 


First  Acquaintance  with  Herbert  Spencer.        115 

nificent  long-sustained  argument  of  First  Principles. 
A  second  selection,  under  the  title,  Essays,  Political, 
Moral,  and  ^Esthetic,  soon  followed,  and  the  diversity 
of  themes  served  to  widen  the  circle  of  Mr.  Spencer's 
readers.  The  publication  of  these  books  was  an  ex- 
periment entirely  due  to  Youmans's  urgency.  As 
soon  as  they  were  ready  for  the  market  he  wrote  re- 
views of  them,  and  by  no  means  in  the  usual  perfunc- 
tory way.  His  reviews  and  notices  were  turned  out 
by  the  score,  and  scattered  about  in  the  magazines 
and  newspapers  where  they  would  do  the  most  good. 
Not  content  with  this,  he  made  numerous  pithy  and 
representative  extracts  for  the  reading  columns  of  va- 
rious daily  and  weekly  papers.  Whenever  he  found 
another  writer  who  could  be  pressed  into  the  service, 
he  would  give  him  Spencer's  books,  kindle  him  with  a 
spark  from  his  own  blazing  enthusiasm,  and  set  him  to 
writing  for  the  press.  The  effects  of  this  work  were 
multifarious  and  fair-reaching,  and — year  in  and  year 
out — it  was  never  for  a  moment  allowed  to  flag.  The 
most  indefatigable  vender  of  wares  was  never  more 
ruthlessly  persistent  in  advertising  for  lucre's  sake 
than  Edward  Youmans  in  preaching  in  a  spirit  of  the 
purest  disinterestedness  the  gospel  of  evolution.  As 
long  as  he  lived  Mr.  Spencer  had  upon  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic  an  alter  ego  ever  on  the  alert,  with  vision  like 
that  of  a  hawk  for  the  slightest  chance  to  promote  his 
interests  and  those  of  his  system  of  thought. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

MARRIAGE    AND    FIRST    VISIT    TO    ENGLAND. 
1861-1862.     Age,  40-41. 

MR.  YOUMANS  was  married  in  1861  to  Mrs.  William 
L.  Lee,  the  widow  of  a  distinguished  jurist,  and  a  lady 
of  culture,  refinement,  and  much  critical  literary  ability. 
That  a  wife  of  such  nice  perceptions  and  intellectual 
gifts  should  earnestly  sympathize  with  the  literary  and 
scientific  work  of  her  husband  was  to  be  expected.  As 
his  amanuensis,  and  as  an  assistant  and  companion  in  the 
occupations,  correspondence,  and  .travel,  by  means  of 
which  he  was  brought  into  intimate  relations  with  the 
leading  thinkers  of  England  and  America,  she  rendered 
him  valuable  aid  which  he  highly  appreciated. 

Accompanied  by  his  wife,  in  the  year  following 
their  marriage  he  made  his  first  visit  to  England  and 
to  the  Continent  of  Europe,  sailing  from  New  York 
in  the  Great  Eastern,  July  26,  1862.  There  were  a 
good  many  secessionists  on  board,  and  the  voyage  was 
enlivened  by  a  characteristic  incident : 

One  evening  there  was  a  ball,  and  the  saloon  was  deco- 
rated with  English  and  American  flags.  Secesh  wouldn't 
dance  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  and  went  raging  out  of 
the  room.  Captain  made  a  very  good  speech  ;  said  that 
this  was  a  neutral  vessel,  and  so  long  as  he  was  in  com- 
mand the  American  flag  should  remain.  But  Secesh  was 


Marriage  and  First   Visit  to  England.  1 1 7 

not  pacified  ;  ordered  liquor,  and  drank  to  George  Wash- 
ington, the  first  rebel,  then  to  Jeff  Davis,  etc. 

Youmans  went  directly  to  Derby,  where  he  was 
expecting  to  find  Herbert  Spencer,  but  was  disap- 
pointed. Mr.  Spencer  was  taking  his  customary  vaca- 
tion in  Scotland,  but  his  father  and  mother  were  at 
home,  and  the  following  extract  from  a  letter  dated 
London,  August  10,  1862,  gives  an  account  of  You- 
mans's  call  at  their  house : 

I  sat  a  few  moments  in  the  dark,  when  a  tall,  dignified- 
looking  gentleman  of  very  quiet  deportment  entered,  and, 
approaching  in  a  very  measured  and  pleasant  way,  said, 
"  Mr.  Youmans  ?  "  I  said,  "  Mr.  Spencer,  father  of  Herbert 
Spencer?"  and  he  said,  "  Yes ;  take  a  seat."  Thus  was  I 
fairly  ensconced  in  the  unpretentious  home  of  the  Spencers. 
They  have  but  one  child — Herbert ;  they  have  had  others, 
but  they  are  dead.  Mr.  Spencer  does  not  teach  a  school 
[though  he  did  until  his  health  broke  down,  many  years 
before],*  but  he  receives  pupils  in  mathematics  and  other 
things,  who  come  and  get  lessons  at  his  house  [or  receive 
them  at  their  own].  He  is  an  unusually  fine-looking  person 
— indeed,  I  think,  handsome.  He  has  a  fine,  profuse  head 
of  grey  hair,  which  he  wears  in  a  spirited  standing  way ; 
must  be  sixty-five  or  sixty-eight  years  of  age  [he  was  then 
seventy-two],  but  looks  younger  in  the  face,  although  his 
shrivelled  hands  proclaim  him  older.  Herbert  has  not  his 
face,  but  his  brain. f  His  lips  are  quite  thick,  but  his  mouth 
is  handsome  and  expressive,  with  fine  curves.  A  narrow 
band  of  close-cut  grey  whiskers  surrounds  his  face.  His 
expression  of  mouth  reminded  me  of  Joe  Wood's  mouth ; 
indeed,  there  is  considerable  resemblance  in  their  thought- 

*  The  remarks  within  brackets  are  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer's  comments, 
f  Youmans,  of  course,  when  writing  this  letter,  knew  Herbert  Spencer's 
face  only  by  a  photograph. 


n8  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

ful  and  reserved  manner.  Fancy  Joe  Wood  handsome,  a 
little  taller,  a  little  slenderer,  like  Newbury  Loomis,  and 
with  the  old-school  style  of  Uncle  Good,  and  all  these 
characteristics  will,  of  course,  mislead  you.  The  English 
are  reserved.  Mr.  Spencer  was  reserved.  He  remarked 
that  Herbert  talks  but  little  of  his  friends.  With  his  con- 
stitutional quietude  and  lack  of  enthusiasm,  I  could  not  ex- 
pect he  would  take  me  in  his  arms,  or  scream  or  faint  at 
my  momentous  arrival.  Don't  mistake.  I  am  not  apolo- 
gizing for  a  cool  reception,  but  for  not  having  a  hot  one. 
It  was  as  warm  as  the  correlation  of  forces  would  permit, 
and  was  eminently  agreeable  and  satisfactory.  We  became 
quickly  well  acquainted.  He  brought  wine,  which  I  tasted, 
and  then  Mrs.  Spencer  came  in.  She  is  about  Ma's  size  ; 
Herbert's  mouth  exactly,  but  I  guess  handsomer ;  wears 
spectacles ;  was  blind  of  cataracts,  and  was  operated  on 
successfully ;  is  pleasant,  communicative ;  has  read  the  Ed- 
ucation and  Essays,  but  can't  understand  the  other  books. 
They  appreciate  their  wonderful  son,  and  of  course  love 
him  and  worry  about  him.  His  father  says  he  is  apt  to 
overdo  himself  in  exercise.  He  is  now  on  an  expedition  in 
the  north  of  Scotland,  fishing,  rambling,  botanizing,  to  be 
absent  till  mid-October.  I  saw  a  very  fine  morocco-bound 
copy  of  First  Principles,  to  be  presented  to  the  person 
whom  Herbert  frequently  visits  in  Scotland.  Conversation 
was  free  and  rambling,  but  I  brought  it  back  to  Herbert  as 
often  as  possible,  and  there  was  no  difficulty  about  it.  He 
did  not  like  his  business  of  civil  engineering  [this  is  a  mis- 
take;  he  did  like  it],  but  was  very  successful  in  it.  His 
father  showed  us  his  herbarium,  twenty  years  old,  and  a 
beautiful  coloured  drawing  of  a  locomotive,  which  he  had 
been  begging  his  son  to  allow  him  to  frame,  but  could  not 
get  his  consent.  They  brought  me  a  little  shred  of  a  pho- 
tograph, faint  and  yellow ;  the  father  told  me  it  was  taken 
just  before  the  Psychology  was  finished,  when  he  was  in 


First   Visit  to  England.  119 

wretched  health  and  very  sleepless.  He  is  not  a  great 
reader.  His  father  and  mother  see  very  little  of  him.  He 
spends  but  little  time  in  Derby,  and,  when  there,  but  little 
at  home.  Takes  long  rambles  in  the  country. 

Herbert  learned  to  sing  by  note  after  he  was  a  grown 
man,  liked  it,  and  complained  of  his  father  for  not  letting 
him  learn  earlier.  I  stayed  an  hour  and  a  half,  and  then 
invited  old  Mr.  Spencer  to  call  next  forenoon  on  Kitty.* 
He  courteously  replied  that  if  it  would  be  agreeable  he 
would  accompany  me  then.  So  he  walked  with  me  a 
twenty-five  minutes'  distance  to  the  Queen's  Hotel.  It 
was  later  than  I  had  supposed,  and  Kitty  was  in  bed,  and 
we  separated  with  the  arrangement  that  he  was  to  meet  us 
at  the  station  next  morning,  ten  minutes  to  nine,  to  accom- 
pany us  to  Elvaston  Castle,  the  estate  of  Lord  Harrington. 

The  following  extracts  from  letters  of  August  i^th 
and  i  Qth,  give  some  first  impressions  of  London  : 

We  have  been  in  this  great  city  a  week,  and  seen  a  great 
many  sights  and  heard  a  great  many  sounds,  the  general 
effect  of  which  has  been  to  put  each  other  out  and  to  pro- 
duce a  meagre  impression  of  confusion.  I  don't  know 
where  to  begin  or  in  what  direction  to  write.  I  am  in  the 
same  state  of  mind  that  I  am  when  I  go  out  of  doors  to 
start  for  some  place.  We  are  now  established  in  the  city, 
miles  further  from  the  Exhibition  than  you  are  from  Sara- 
toga, so  we  have  given  but  little  attention  to  that  yet,  in- 
tending to  be  located  nearer  it  when  we  return.  We  move 
in  omnibuses  and  cabs.  The  omnibuses  are  like  our  own, 
save  that  there  is  a  man  on  the  steps  to  collect  fares  when 
you  come  out.  The  currency  is  very  simple.  I  learned  it 
the  first  day.  Everything  is  silver  and  gold.  One  half  the 
cabs  are  on  four  wheels,  the  other  on  two.  "  Hansom's 

*  The  reference  is  to  Mrs.  Youmans. 


I2O  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

Patent  Safety  Cab  "  is  the  most  unhandsome  thing  I  ever 
looked  upon.  It  is  a  top  on  two  wheels,  and,  as  it  rains 
nearly  all  the  time,  it  has  two  doors  in  front,  which  lie  down 
like  a  pair  of  outside  cellar  doors,  only  a  little  steeper.  A 
seat  for  the  driver  is  carried  behind,  supported  by  long  iron 
rods  ;  and  when  "  cabby  "  gets  mounted,  with  two  or  three 
trunks  on  top  before  him,  and  his  basket  of  oats  swinging 
under  his  seat,  the  whole  thing'  is  altogether  the  most  out- 
landish exhibition  to  be  seen  anywhere  but  in  London.  On 
the  whole  they  drive  much  faster  than  in  New  York,  but 
the  loaded  horses  take  much  larger  loads,  go  tandem,  and 
very  slow.  The  place  resembles  a  half  dozen  New  Yorks, 
with  any  number  of  Broadways,  crooked  and  straight, 
running  in  every  direction.  I  am  beginning  to  have  a  dim 
idea  of  the  place,  but  it  will  take  a  very  long  time  to  get  a 
clear  one  of  it,  unless  one's  entire  time  could  be  given  to 
its  study.  There  is  no  use  in  my  describing  particulars  ; 
that  is  done  elsewhere  much  better  than  I  can  do  it.  Eat- 
ing is  much  like  eating  everywhere,  but  they  never  have 
butter  at  dinner;  their  water  is  always  brought  in  bottles, 
and  never  iced.  They  have  no  pies — or,  rather,  they  call 
them  tarts,  and  make  them  in  small  dishes  like  sauce  dishes, 
two  inches  deep,  with  no  under  crust,  and  an  upper  crust 
of  triple  thickness,  served  with  a  spoon.  But  we  live  well 
enough.  .  .  . 

I  yesterday  got  track  of  Silsbee,  and  went  to  his  regis- 
tered place.  He  was  not  there ;  it  was  the  family  he  was 
with  before  and  spoke  of  to  us.  The  people  were  quite 
interesting.  An  elderly  lady  sat  in  her  large  armchair, 
highly  dressed,  with  white  kid  gloves  on,  reading  the 
Prayer  Book  (it  was  Sunday  afternoon).  A  youngish  wom- 
an (married)  was  with  her,  and  at  once  opened  conversa- 
tion concerning  Mr.  Silsbee  and  Mr.  Spencer,  "  her  friends." 
She  had  some  personal  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Spencer,  but 
seemed  to  understand  little  of  his  works;  and  although 


First   Visit  to  England.  121 

an  intelligent  woman,  she  had  a  vague,  horrified  sense  of 
the  awfulness  of  anybody  thinking  for  himself. 

I  had  also  a  letter  from  Mr.  Spencer  ;  he  had  received 
one  from  his  father  announcing  our  arrival  in  Derby,  and 
turned  his  course  at  once  southward.  He  wrote  he  would 
be  in  Glasgow  to-night  to  await  a  letter  from  me,  or  my  com- 
ing there,  and  so  we  have  concluded  to  drop  the  Continent 
for  the  present  and  go  to  Scotland.  We  have  not  much  time, 
as  we  have  decided  to  return  home  in  October,  and  there- 
fore shall  stay  in  Scotland  but  a  day  or  two  perhaps.  .  .  . 
There  is  so  much  to  see  of  surpassing  interest  on  this  side 
that  a  flying  trip  is  almost  ridiculous,  and  the  Exhibition  a 
very  small  affair  comparatively.  Were  I  at  home  with  all 
the  knowledge  I  have  now,  I  would  not  make  my  stay  less 
than  six  months,  and  I  would  come  over  in  February.  I 
would  stay  in  London  till  May,  while  its  people  are  at 
home  and  it  isn't  crowded,  and  expenses  are  reasonable. 
After  that  I  would  take  the  English  country  and  the  Con- 
tinent. 

The  meeting  with  Mr.  Spencer  in  Glasgow  is  thus 
described  in  a  letter  of  August  24th,  to  Miss  You- 
mans: 

We  returned  this  morning  from  Scotland  after  riding  all 
night  from  Edinburgh — four  hundred  miles,  and  with  but 
little  sleep  the  night  before.  I  think  I  never  was  so  nearly 
used  up,  and  have  slept  painfully  and  heavily  nearly  all  day 
till  four  o'clock.  I  should  have  commenced  writing  as  soon 
as  I  returned,  but  had  not  power  to  get  the  materials  to- 
gether. However,  I  now  feel  refreshed  and  bright,  and,  that 
nothing  may  intervene  to  weaken  the  impression  of  the  last 
three  days,  I  sit  down  to  write  at  once.  Spencer  has  come 
forth  from  his  realm  of  abstraction,  and  is  a  living,  breath- 
ing, and  in  many  respects  very  human  specimen  of  human 
nature.  He  wrote  me  he  would  be  in  Glasgow  Tuesday 


122  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

night.  We  received  the  letter  on  Tuesday,  and  thought  to 
go  on  that  night,  and  hence  did  not  write  him.  But  we 
could  not  get  away  till  Wednesday  morning,  arriving  at 
Glasgow  at  one  that  night.  Spencer  had  telegraphed 
Tuesday  evening  to  16  Little  Britain,  but  it  was  shut  up, 
and  if  it  had  not  been  so  they  did  not  know  where  we  were. 
The  purport  of  the  telegram  was,  that  Spencer  would  come 
to  London  to  see  me  if  we  were  not  coming  to  Scotland. 
His  father  had  written  him  that  we  would  meet  him  at  any 
point  in  Scotland  which  he  would  indicate.  I  had  emphat- 
ically stated  that  I  did  not  want  him  to  turn  a  step  out  of 
his  way  to  meet  us.  I  found  him  at  eight  in  the  morning  at 
his  hotel.  Ascending  two  flights  of  stairs,  I  was  ushered  into 
the  dining  room.  I  inquired  for  Mr.  Spencer;  the  waiter 
said  he  was  there  at  the  other  end  of  the  room.  I  went 
forward  and  made  myself  known  to  him.  He  received  me 
very  quietly  and  cordially,  and  asked  me  first  if  I  had  re- 
ceived his  telegram ;  said  he  had  been  waiting  in  suspense, 
and  should  have  left  for  London  at  four  that  afternoon; 
would  be  round  to  see  us  after  breakfast  and  arrange  how 
to  dispose  of  our  time.  He  was  ready  for  an  expedition  of 
any  length  we  might  desire.  We  had  but  little  time.  He 
urged  us  to  take  more.  We  decided  to  stay  in  Scotland 
from  Thursday  morning  till  Saturday  night.  He  arranged 
the  route  so  that  we  should  go  from  Glasgow  to  Edin- 
burgh at  once,  see  the  city  on  Thursday,  start  for  the 
mountains  and  lakes  on  Friday  morning,  and  get  back  to 
Edinburgh  to  take  the  Saturday  afternoon  train  at  four 
o'clock,  he  accompanying  us  about  four  hours,  and  then 
diverging  to  go  and  visit  J.  D.  Morell,  who  lives  near 
Manchester. 

I  cannot  give  you  a  progressive  account  of  the  journey, 
for  it  is  all  a  confused  thing  in  my  memory,  and  much,  I 
fear,  has  already  escaped,  we  hurried  through  so  rapidly 
and  changed  so  often.  I  went  on  account  of  Spencer.  The 


First   Visit  to  England.  123 

scenery  was  fine,  but  I  cared  nothing  for  it  and  paid  no 
attention  to  it.  We  went  from  Edinburgh  to  Stirling ;  be- 
yond that  a  few  miles,  took  the  old-fashioned  stage-coach, 
riding  on  top  for  eight  miles  to  Loch  Katrine,  five  miles 
long,  which  we  crossed  in  a  packet  steamer;  staged  four 
miles  again,  then  crossed  Loch  Lomond,  walked  a  mile  and 
a  half,  and  stayed  all  night.  Saturday  morning,  at  six, 
took  the  boat  again  on  Loch  Lomond  and  went  to  Glas- 
gow, and  then  to  Edinburgh  by  rail.  Spencer,  of  course, 
wished  to  help  us  all  he  could,  on  various  occasions  ex- 
pressing his  warmest  obligations,  indebtedness,  etc.  ;  but, 
aside  from  all  this,  he  is  the  most  prompt,  ready,  adaptive, 
and  useful  man  on  such  an  expedition  I  have  ever  known. 
He  is  wonderfully  practical,  and  handles  circumstances  as 
they  arise  with  all  the  energy  and  readiness  of  an  experi- 
enced business  man.  A  hundred  vagabonds  were  demand- 
ing stipends.  I  was  confused,  and  would  have  given  them 
all  I  had.  He  knew  just  what  to  do,  and  did  it  decisively, 
allowing  no  nonsense,  and  dealing  sharply  with  importunate 
or  outrageous  claimants. 

His  health  is  bad.  The  difficulty  is  with  his  brain- 
sleeplessness.  He  has  not  had  a  night's  rest  since  he  wrote 
the  Psychology.  He  can't  sleep,  and  if  he  does  he  wakes 
ten  or  twenty  times  during  the  night.  He  is  very  excit- 
able, and  when  excited  cannot  sleep  at  all,  gets  alarmed  at 
the  state  of  his  brain,  and  flies  from  the  scene  of  danger. 
He  undertook  to  attend  to  some  Derby  ladies  at  the  expo- 
sition, and  had  to  fly  from  the  city  before  his  time. 

As  respects  his  business  the  poor  man  has  had  a  troubled 
time  indeed.  His  books  have  never  paid  him  anything,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  have  weighed  him  down  like  a  millstone.* 

*  In  reading  this  passage  the  reader  must  not  forget  that  it  was  written 
thirty  years  ago.  Many  years  have  now  elapsed  since  Mr.  Spencer's  books 
began  to  return  a  considerable  and  steadily  increasing  income  to  the  au- 
thor and  his  publishers. 


124  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

Five  hundred  copies  of  the  Psychology  were  published  ; 
three  hundred  remain  on  his  hands.  The  Social  Statics  has 
done  better.  Seven  hundred  and  fifty  were  published  eleven 
years  ago,  and  the  edition  is  nearly  exhausted.  None  of 
them  are  stereotyped,  and  so  the  several  editions  will  very 
shortly  be  out  of  print,  and  he  says  he  shall  not  try  it  again. 
Five  hundred  Education  were  printed,  and  two  hundred  are 
sold.  He  was  desirous  of  doing  something  to  circulate 
them,  so  he  bound  up  some  cheaper,  to  be  sent  by  mail  to 
teachers  if  they  desired.  Twelve  copies  were  thus  disposed 
of,  with  the  result  of  giving  mortal  offence  to  the  book 
trade,  who  are  down  upon  the  work  in  consequence  of  this 
informality.  To  crown  his  experience,  his  publisher,  George 
Manwaring,  has  failed  within  three  months,  whereby  he 
loses  everything  from  the  Education,  and  enough  more  on 
his  other  publications  to  make  his  loss  five  hundred  dol- 
lars. As  respects  the  First  Principles,  notwithstanding  all 
the  efforts,  the  whole  thing  would  have  been  exploded 
and  abandoned  this  summer  but  for  some  means  which  he 
obtained  from  the  death  of  an  uncle.  By  using  that  little 
capital  he  has  been  enabled  to  maintain  the  project  and 
live.  He  did  not  say  much  to  me  about  his  experience, 
but  alluded  to  it  two  or  three  times  in  a  very  simple  and 
touching  way  in  connection  with  the  assistance  he  had  re- 
ceived from  America.  That  is  all  the  profit  he  has  ever 
yet  had  from  his  work,  and  he  said  it  was  as  grateful 
and  opportune  as  it  was  unexpected,  for  he  had  but  little 
hope  from  that  quarter  ;  and  he  said  his  father  thought 
that  when  he  sent  a  circular  to  Mr.  Silsbee  and  expressed 
some  hope  from  that,  he  was  very  foolish;  "but,"  said 
he  to  me,  "  you  have  quite  extinguished  the  old  gentle- 
man." 

And  when  I  looked  upon  the  man,  with  his  health  broken 
and  nerves  shattered,  and  remembered  that  his  is  the  fore- 
most intellect  of  our  civilization,  and  that  he  is  a  man  be- 


First   Visit  to  England.  125 

yond  all  other  men  of  his  age  to  control  the  thought  of  the 
future  ;  when  I  thought  of  him  hampered  and  harassed  for 
want  of  means  to  publish  his  great  thoughts — as  having  to 
think  for  the  world  and  then  having  to  pay  the  expense  of 
instruction,  setting  up  other  men  in  intellectual  business 
with  a  paragraph,  I  confess  I  thank  God  that  I  had  had  a 
little  opportunity  to  do  him  service.  Dear  sister,  let  us  re- 
spect ourselves  more  that  we  saw  through  the  obscurity  of 
distance  the  genuine  and  exalted  claims  of  this  unheralded 
man,  and  were  led  to  help  him  in  a  way  that  he  most  needed 
help. 

Mr.  Spencer  is  a  man  who  lives  his  philosophy.  He  ap- 
plies his  principles  in  the  proper  phraseology  to  the  criti- 
cism and  consideration  of  all  questions  which  arise.  He 
has  not  the  slightest  doubt  or  hesitation,  nor  is  he  at  a  loss. 
He  did  not  talk  much  upon  these  topics,  to  be  sure,  while 
I  was  with  him,  nor  did  I  desire  to  lead  him  into  it,  but  the 
evidence  of  the  complete  mastery  of  his  themes,  that  they 
are  part  of  his  mind's  nature,  crops  out  constantly.  Again, 
he  is  equally  ready  in  the  application  of  his  convictions  of 
right  and  justice.  "  You  see,"  said  he,  after  two  or  three 
days'  acquaintance  with  me,  "  that  I  have  a  very  disagree- 
able habit  of  speaking  my  mind."  For  instance,  he  pounced 
upon  every  man  in  the  cars  who  smoked,  and  several  at- 
tempted it,  as  they  have  no  smoking  cars.  Individuals 
would  try  to  smoke  out  of  the  window.  He  always  at- 
tacked them.  "  Is  it  disagreeable  to  you  ? "  they  would 
say.  "  Not  at  all,"  he  would  reply  ;  "  but  it  is  against  the 
law,  and  the  law  is  a  wholesome  and  proper  one.  You  have 
no  right  to  break  it,  and  you  shall  not  do  it ;  and  if  you  do 
not  desist  I  will  call  the  guard."  Again,  when  we  were  in 
Edinburgh  Castle,  in  the  bedroom  of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots, 
where  her  son  was  born,  and  let  down  outside  through  the 
window,  an  old  Scotchman  was  trying  to  rally  his  recollec- 
tions about  some  details,  and  appealed  to  Spencer.  "  I  am 


126  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

happy  to  say  I  don't  know,"  he  replied.  The  old  man  was 
thunderstruck,  and  said  he  wished  he  knew  all  about  his- 
tory. "  I  should  hate  to  have  my  head  filled  up  with  it,  for 
it  would  exclude  better  things."  With  porter,  cabby,  or 
steamboat  captain  he  was  ever  ready  to  do  battle  for  the 
cause  of  justice;  but  he  deprecates  the  tendency  to  fault- 
finding. "  I  used  to  visit  Caflyle,  but  he  has  got  so  cross 
and  misanthropic,  and  raves  so  constantly  about  the 
hor-r-rible  state  of  things  (imitating  the  Scotch  accent) 
that  I  couldn't  stand  it.  I  do  not  want  to  argue  with  him 
and  I  will  not  listen  to  his  nonsense,  and  so  I  stay  away. 
He  is  a  prodigious  talker.  His  tongue  rattles  inces- 
santly; even  his  wife  can't  get  a  chance  to  say  a  word 
till  he  goes  out  to  smoke  a  pipe,  when  she  starts  up  and 
proves  that  nothing  but  her  husband  is  able  to  extinguish 
her."  Carlyle's  conversation,  he  said,  was  "  one  long 
damn." 

When  we  stopped  at  the  inn  on  Friday  night,  as  the  boat 
left  at  six,  and  we  could  breakfast  on  board,  we  left  word 
to  be  awakened  at  half  past  five.  Spencer  hoped  to  sleep 
a  little,  as  he  had  not  done  so  the  night  before  in  Edin- 
burgh in  consequence  of  the  noise  ;  but  we  were  all  called 
a  quarter  before  five.  I  lay  abed.  Kitty  dressed  and  went 
down.  There  was  a  register  on  a  side  table  in  the  dining- 
room,  where  travellers  offer  any  sentiment  about  the  scen- 
ery after  their  names,  and  often  record  praises  of  the  hotel ; 
and  so  the  book  is  an  object  of  display.  When  Kitty  went 
down  she  found  written,  as  nearly  as  I  can  recollect,  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Prof,  and  Mrs.  Youmans,  of  America,  and  Herbert 
Spencer,  of  London,  taking  lodgings  for  the  night,  left  or- 
ders to  be  called  at  half  past  five  o'clock,  but  were  called 
three  quarters  of  an  hour  earlier.  This  is  part  of  a  system 
pursued  in  this  region  to  induce  travellers  to  take  breakfast 
before  starting.  I  was  imposed  upon  in  the  same  way  a  few 
nights  ago  at  Oban."  Kitty  says  Mr.  Spencer  was  very  an- 


First   Visit  to  England.  127 

gry  at  the  imposition.*  The  book  was  quickly  whipped  out 
of  sight. 

He  thinks  Mrs.  Lewes  the  greatest  woman  living,  if  not 
the  greatest  female  intellect  that  has  ever  appeared  in  the 
world.  Lewes  and  wife  live  much  by  themselves,  receive  a 
few  friends  on  Sunday,  and  he  is  the  only  person  who  has 
admission  to  them  at  all  times.  He  called  there  one  day 
as  she  was  finishing  The  Mill  on  the  Floss,  and  Mr.  Lewes, 
who  was  just  leaving  the  house  for  an  errand,  met  him  on 
the  steps.  "Oh,  Spencer,"  he  exclaimed,  "  do  go  in  and 
comfort  Polly  ;  she  is  crying  her  eyes  out  over  the  death  of 
her  children  "  (i.  e.  Tom  and  Maggie  Tulliver).  To  obtain 
emotional  relaxation  after  writing  Adam  Bede  she  read 
through  his  Psychology  the  second  time.  She  is  masculine 
in  features,  but  soft  and  feminine  in  manners.  He  says  he 
first  proposed  her  writing  fiction  and  pressed  her  into  it. 
She  was  full  of  self-distrust,  but  at  last  she  told  him  she 
had  commenced  Scenes  in  Clerical  Life.  He  and  Huxley 
think  Silas  Marner  one  of  her  very  best  things — a  perfect 
prose  poem.f 

He  says  Huxley  has  a  new  work  on  the  relation  of  the 

*  Youmans's  recollection  was  not  quite  accurate,  for  later  in  the  letter 
he  adds  that  Mrs.  Youmans  copied  the  writing  in  the  album  above  referred 
to,  and  the  latter  part  runs  thus  :  "  A  similar  course  has  been  pursued  at 
Oban  to  induce  travellers  to  breakfast  at  the  hotel,  which  reason  may  have 
operated  also  in  this  case."  It  was  friends  who  had  been  treated  that  way, 
not  himself. 

f  Another  anecdote  of  Lewes  and  George  Eliot  may  find  a  place  here. 
Lewes  had  arranged  to  take  a  ramble  in  the  country  with  Spencer  and 
Youmans,  but  was  prevented  at  the  last  minute,  as  the  following  note  ex- 
plained :  "  My  dear  philosopher :  Polly  is  ill,  and  as  husbands  are  indi- 
visible (and  for  that  reason  probably  no  matter),  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I 
shall  not  have  a  leg  or  a  cerebellum  at  your  service.  Faithfully  yours, 
G.  H.  Lewes."  The  quip  on  the  divisibility  of  matter  is  a  fair  specimen  of 
the  atrocious  puns  and  jokes  with  which  Lewes  was  always  bubbling  over. 
There  was  something  tonic  and  refreshing  in  that  irrepressible  flow  of  ani- 
mal spirits. 


128  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

human  brain  to  those  of  inferior  tribes;  Lyell,  a  new  work 
on  The  Antiquity  of  Man;  and  Tyndall,  a  new  work  on  the 
mechanical  theory  of  heat.  He  reads  nothing  but  what 
bears  on  the  immediate  thing  he  is  writing,  and  but  little 
of  that.  He  expects  to  be  reviewed  by  Mansel,  whom  he 
has  thrust  into  an  embarrassing  position.  Goldwin  Smith 
and  Mansel,  at  the  same  university,  are  at  loggerheads 
over  the  doctrine  of  Mansel's  Limits  to  Religious  Thought. 
Smith  charges  him  with  atheism,  and  quotes  Spencer's  use 
of  the  doctrine  as  proof  of  it.  Yet,  when  one  of  Spencer's 
parts  is  delayed,  Goldwin  Smith  writes  him  a  very  kind  let- 
ter of  solicitude  for  his  health,  and  is  thus  liberal  and  gen- 
tlemanly though  thoroughly  antagonistic.  He  says  there 
is  obviously  a  growing  liberality  of  thought  and  speech 
toward  the  United  States. 

I  broke  off  abruptly  this  morning,  as  I  was  forced  away. 
I  tried  to  put  down  everything  material  about  Spencer.  If 
I  remember  anything  further  I  will  record  it.  He  knows 
nothing  about  the  state  of  practical  education,  never  heard 
of  the  Home  Colonial  Training  School,  and  thinks  there  is 
nothing  here  to  be  imitated.  Viewed  through  English 
lenses,  things  look  gloomy  enough  at  the  North.  Every- 
body regards  the  independence  of  the  South  as  a  fixed  and 
foregone  and  irreversible  fact,  and  they  look  upon  the 
movements  of  the  North  as  the  blind,  infatuated,  impotent 
struggling  of  political  pride.  Every  success  of  the  South 
is  hailed  with  pleasure,  and  only  the  gloomy  side  of  North- 
ern affairs  is  presented.  Even  Mr.  Spencer  regards  disso- 
lution as  determined,  and  deludes  himself  with  the  weakest 
sophistry  to  explain  the  present  confused  attitude  of  Eng- 
land. Your  "  conscription  "  and  the  frantic  efforts  to  evade 
it  are  made  everything  of.  ...  We  leave  to-morrow  morn- 
ing for  Dover,  Ostend,  Brussels,  Cologne,  Basel,  and  where 
else  Heaven  only  knows,  to  be  gone  a  fortnight  or  three 
weeks.  We  shall  not  hear  from  you  in  all  that  time,  but 


First  Visit  to  England.  129 

shall  expect  letters  on  our  return.  I  shall  see  nobody  that 
you  are  interested  in,  or  I  either,  and  as  for  a  description 
of  the  places,  you  will  find  it  far  better  in  Cornell's  geogra- 
phy. We  write  to-night  to  secure  berths  on  the  Great 
Eastern  for  October  ist.  Give  my  tenderest  love  to  Ma, 
and  say  to  her  that  as  she  is  a  Christian  and  has  faith  that 
all  things  are  ordered  well,  she  should  not  vex  herself 
about  the  course  of  worldly  affairs.  Remember  me  kindly 
to  all,  and  write  often. 

Upon  Youmans's  return  to  London  Mr.  Spencer 
introduced  him  to  Huxley  and  several  other  friends 
eminent  in  science  and  philosophy.  From  more  than 
one  of  these  men  I  have  heard  the  warmest  expres- 
sions of  personal  affection  for  Youmans,  and  of  keen 
appreciation  of  the  aid  that  they  have  obtained  in  innu- 
merable ways  from  his  intelligent  and  enthusiastic 
sympathy. 

These  beginnings  of  valued  friendships  were  ex- 
tremely pleasant,  but  there  was  much  to  mar  the  en- 
joyment of  this  first  journey  abroad.  It  was  war  time, 
and  depressing  news  came  by  every  mail.  There  was 
much  to  perturb  a  man  of  patriotic  spirit  in  the  gen- 
eral sympathy  with  the  Southern  cause  expressed 
by  Englishmen.  From  much  pleasure  in  sight-seeing 
Youmans  was  debarred  by  his  imperfect  vision,  while 
his  irritable  nerves  suffered  amid  the  worries  and 
fatigues  of  constant  travel.  He  visited  the  great  Ex- 
hibition at  the  Crystal  Palace,  but  cared  little  for  it. 
However,  when  he  attended  the  British  Association's 
meeting  at  Cambridge,  he  felt  amply  repaid  for  hav- 
ing crossed  the  Atlantic.  The  addresses  and  papers 
pleased  him  greatly ;  and  there  was  endless  delight  in 
observing  men  of  his  own  race  and  language,  who 
seemed  to  him  foreign  in  so  many  ways.  Their 


130  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

starchiness  on  the  platform,  their  kittenish  flow  of 
animal  spirits  before  and  after  business,  the  odd  way 
in  which  men  of  advanced  views  were  surrounded  and 
"  supported  "  by  their  friends,  were  all  to  him  new 
and  most  amusing. 

The  following  extracts  contain  some  interesting 
details  of  the  last  days  of  this  first  visit,  to  England : 

LONDON,  September  25,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  SISTER  :  .  .  .  I  intended  not  to  have  called  on 
Spencer,  desiring  not  to  trouble  him  until  just  before  leav- 
ing London.  But  on  Tuesday  (I  think  it  was)  I  met  him 
on  the  street.  He  had  heard,  through  Silsbee,  that  we  had 
returned,  and  seemed  quite  surprised  that  we  had  not  called 
on  him  or  notified  him  of  our  return.  I  think  he  had  been 
at  some  pains  to  find  a  place  for  us.  He  had  on  the  ever- 
lasting stovepipe,  which  everybody — yes,  everybody — wears. 
I  was  walking  with  him  and  let  drop  the  word  "residua," 
when  he  suddenly  said:  "  By-the-by,  Morell  is  in  town, 
and  dines  with  me  to-night.  Come  and  have  dinner  with 
us,  and  get  acquainted  with  him.  The  only  difficulty  is,  we 
are  somewhat  crowded  at  table."  I  protested  I  did  not 
wish  to  intrude,  but  he  said,  "  Walk  home  with  me,  and  I 
will  find  out  if  there  will  be  room."  He  insisted,  and  so 
we  started.  It  was  a  mighty  long  way  to  Gloster  Square 
across  Hyde  Park  almost  to  the  Exhibition.  Gloster 
Square  is  about  the  size  of  Westcott's  dooryard,  and  the 
house  is  about  two  blocks  away  from  it,  so  that  the 
green  patch  is  just  remotely  in  sight.  Yet  the  neighbour- 
hood is  tiptop,  and  that  is  a  very  great  deal  here  in  Eng- 
land. 

The  mistress  of  the  house,  a  doctor's  widow,  is  a  tall, 
conceited,  pompous,  spoony-looking  creature.  Mr.  Spencer, 
somewhat  embarrassed,  unfolded  the  business :  "  Oh,  yes, 
certainly — most  happy.  If  there  is  not  room  we  will  make 


First   Visit  to  England.  131 

room."  Then,  turning  to  me  with  a  smile,  "  Mr.  Herbert 
is  a  great  favourite  in  the  house."  "Mr.  Herbert"  curtly 
remarked  that  he  "  wasn't  aware  of  it."  As  soon  as  we  were 
out  of  doors  he  burst  out :  "  The  shallow  hypocrite  !  I 
have  done  nothing  to  make  myself  popular  in  the  house, 
least  of  all  with  her."  I  may  dismiss  the  woman  with  an 
incident  Silsbee  mentioned.  Sitting  on  the  sofa,  sewing, 
one  day,  she  suddenly  exclaimed :  "  Mr.  Spencer,  you  are 
fond  of  books;  here  is  Scott's  Marmion  !  "  pulling  the  vol- 
ume out  of  her  basket  and  tendering  it  to  him.  The  dinner 
hour  was  half  past  six.  I  went  home,  and  was  back  ten 
minutes  before  the  time.  Was  taken  upstairs  to  the  sitting- 
room,  where  Spencer  received  me  and  introduced  me  to 
Dr.  Morell.  Oh,  my  !  my  !  my  !  A  youngish,  jolly,  jaunty, 
sandy-haired,  thin-bearded,  gold-spectacled,  small-headed, 
little-nosed,  undersized  individual,  the  total  reverse  of  all 
I  had  supposed.*  We  got  acquainted  the  first  moment. 
He  had  never  heard  of  me  before;  did  not  understand 
and  could  not  remember  my  name ;  but  I  knew  him,  and 
that  was  enough  for  both.  He  is  a  laughing,  joking,  smart 
conversationalist,  who  makes  indifferent  puns.  We  went  to 
the  dinner  table.  Morell  talks  German,  and  Spencer  un- 
fortunately seated  him  beside  the  most  diabolical  bore  of 
a  German  that  ever  happened  in  the  wrong  place.  He 
monopolized  the  conversation,  to  my  great  torment.  I 
tried  to  turn  it  in  some  other  direction,  but  the  Dutchman 
would  argue. 

I  learned  that  Morell  wrote  his  History  of  Philosophy 
at  the  age  of  twenty-six  ;  that  he  is  ashamed  of  it  every 
time  he  looks  at  it ;  and  that  it  continues  to  sell.  Moreil 
got  Boase's  work  on  The  Duality  of  Forces,  read  five  pages, 
could  get  no  further,  and  shelved  it.  Can't  read  Bain — "  he 
is  all  very  well,  but  I  have  no  patience  to  read  him  ;  he  is  so 

*  Youmans  was  still  apparently  in  that  period  of  inexperience  when 
one  takes  it  for  granted  that  distinguished  authors  must  look  distinguished. 


132  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

tedious."  I  tried  to  remember  all  the  things  that  were  said, 
but  could  not.  It  did  not  amount  to  much.  The  two  men 
are  different  and  opposite.  Morell  is  a  "  national  school  " 
inspector,  and  has  been  in  the  receipt  of  a  large  salary  for 
fifteen  years,  visiting  schools.  Has  a  place  of  his  own,  with 
cellar  stored  with  choice  wines ;  has  made  money  on  every 
one  of  his  books;  is  the  author  of  a  grammar  that  sells 
twenty  thousand  a  year ;  is  in  capital  English  health,  etc., 
and  consequently  boils  over  with  satisfaction.  Spencer,  on 
the  other  hand,  is  burdened  and  embarrassed — no  sale  for 
his  books,  in  bad  health,  sleepless,  and  with  the  weight  of 
his  mighty  subjects  pressing  upon  his  soul.  It  is  natural 
that  the  bearing  of  the  two  men  should  be  very  different. 
I  don't  know  how  much  they  have  previously  seen  of  each 
other,  but  suspect  but  little.  They  made  frequent  refer- 
ence to  meeting  at  Dr.  Carpenter's.  For  a  little  mischief 
I  got  them  by  the  ears  on  the  subject  of  state  education. 
Spencer  was  intensely  earnest ;  Morell  cavalier,  grandly 
indifferent — "  had  been  through  all  that  long  since  "  ;  "  all 
very  well  for  reasoning,  but  it  was  a  different  thing  to 
have  the  responsibility  of  acting  in  reference  to  the  mat- 
ter." I  had  to  divert  the  discussion,  for  Mr.  Spencer  was 
getting  excited,  which  is  the  worst  thing  in  the  world  for 
him. 

I  don't  know  how  it  came  out,  but  it  did  come  out,  that 
Morell  had  been  into  and  through  the  socialistic  craze.  He 
had  even  had  the  Fourier  fever,  and  fraternized  with  Do- 
herty,  etc.,  who  represented  the  thing  in  England,  as  Bris- 
bane did  in  America.  He  was  a  little  semi-shy  in  speaking 
of  it ;  half  commended  it,  half  acknowledged  the  sell ;  re- 
ferred to  his  interviews  with  W.  H.  Channing,  who  sympa- 
thized, and  is  on  the  whole  somewhat  in  the  condition  of 
Ripley  on  the  subject.  This  is  the  rendering  I  put  on  what 
was  hastily  said.  Another  thing  I  was  surprised  to  learn 
in  regard  to  Mill.  While  intellectually  there  is  accorded  to 


First   Visit  to  England.  133 

him  the  same  supremacy  here  as  with  us,  yet  personally  he 
is  regarded  as  a  fanatic.  He  was  so  carried  away  with  Mal- 
thusianism  that  he  personally  distributed  tracts  through 
London,  like  Bill  Green— went  round  throwing  them  into 
the  cellars.  On  the  subject  of  women  all  his  friends  regard 
him  as  a  monomaniac.  If  the  intellectual  equality  of  men 
and  women  is  questioned  in  his  presence  he  flies  into  a 
passion  and  raves  and  rages  at  an  awful  rate.  Furthermore, 
his  view  of  his  late  wife  is  recognized  as  part  of  the  mono- 
mania. He  married  very  late — lived  with  his  wife  but  three 
or  four  years.  She  was  a  widow,  and  followed  him  over  the 
Continent  a  good  while  before  they  were  married.  How 
she  could  have  been  4<  the  inspirer  and  in  part  the  author  of 
all  that  is  best "  in  his  writings  seems  singular.  She  is 
buried  at  Avignon.  He  has  built  a  splendid  monument  to 
her,  and  takes  charge  of  the  English  portion  of  the  ceme- 
tery, going  there  every  year  and  spending  a  good  deal  of 
his  time.  These  are  quite  curious  personal  details. 

Morell  knew  Sir  William  Hamilton  well.  It  was  men- 
tioned in  illustration  of  Sir  William's  irascibility  that,  being 
once  at  a  meeting  of  the  Philosophical  Society  where  Gla- 
cier Forbes,  who  was  something  of  a  dandy,  attacked  him, 
he  exclaimed  that  he  "  was  not  going  to  be  put  down  by  a 
d d  puppy  !  "  Great  commotion.  "Why,  why,  Sir  Wil- 
liam," cried  the  president,  "  such  language  as  that  before 
this  learned  body!"  "I  don't  call  this  a  learned  body!" 
sputtered  the  angry  Hamilton. 

Morell  thinks  he  shall  rewrite  his  history,  bringing  it 
down  to  the  present  day ;  thinks  he  is  better  fitted  for  a 
historian  than  an  analytic  psychologist.  The  article  he 
published  in  the  Medico-Chirurgical  in  1855,  which  first  in- 
troduced us  to  Spencer,  was  written  at  the  request  of  the 
National  Review,  Martineau's  Unitarian  organ.  As  they 
had  called  for  it,  they  sent  him  the  money  for  it,  but  refused 
to  publish  it — it  was  too  materialistic.  Morell  says  they 


134  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

were  just  then  introducing  the  phase  of  transcendental 
mysticism.  (By-the-by,  Garth  Wilkinson  was  one  of  Morell's 
intimates  in  the  Fourieristic  time.)  Spencer,  in  Part  I, 
gives  Martineau  a  rub,  and  now  there  is  to  be  a  review  of 
Spencer  in  that  magazine,  entitled  Science,  Nescience,  and 
Faith.  Mill  has  an  article  in  the  forthcoming  Westminster 
Review  on  the  Slave  Power. 

When  we  broke  up,  Morell  reproached  Spencer  for  the 
brevity  of  his  recent  visit  to  him.  He  then  unceremonious- 
ly took  my  arm  and  we  walked  homeward,  his  place  being 
in  Pall  Mall  (pronounced  Pell  Mell),  near  to  mine.  He 
gave  me  a  cordial  invitation  to  come  up  and  spend  a  day 
or  two  with  him.  His  business  in  London  now  is  to  inspect 
a  training  school — the  Normal  Training  College,  which 
stands  upon  the  ground  where  Joseph  Lancaster  first  estab- 
lished the  monitorial  system  in  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century.  Morell  says  that  it  is  the  best  training  school  in 
England,  has  the  least  theology  about  it,  and  nothing  of 
the  "  routine  "  of  the  Home  Colonial.  So  I  made  immediate 
arrangements  to  go  over  to  the  school  and  see  some  of  the 
examinations.  In  all  that,  I  was  as  much  disappointed  as 
in  Morell  himself  at  first.  I  had  no  reason,  perhaps,  for 
being  so,  but  could  not  help  it.  Officials  take  things  easy 
— as  Spencer  says,  it  is  the  nature  of  officialism.  I  saw  the 
plan  of  working  the  machine,  and  was  interested,  of  course, 
but  there  was  not  much  inspection.  The  principal,  Prof. 
Fitch,  also  examiner  in  English  literature  in  the  University 
of  London,  is  an  accomplished  lecturer  and  a  close  thinker. 
I  was  delighted  with  him.  I  went  to  the  school  again  yes- 
terday. Morell  got  into  the  same  stage,  and  we  rode  over 
the  Thames  (Waterloo  Bridge)  together,  to  the  Borough 
Road,  where  the  school  is  situated.  ...  I  lunched  with  Mo- 
rell and  Prof.  Wilkes,  who  lives  in  the  building.  Lunch,  as 
usual  everywhere — hashed  veal,  boiled  potatoes,  cold  meat, 
bread,  and  ale,  with  an  apple  or  plum  tart  for  dessert,  all 


First  Visit  to  England.  135 

fresh  and  insipid.  The  American  war  was  up.  Morell 
favoured  the  view  of  Mill,  and  recognized  slavery  as  at  the 
bottom  of  the  whole  business.  Wilkes  stoutly  denied  it: 
slavery  had  nothing  to  do  with  it !  He  is  a  student  of  the 
Times,  and  quoted  all  the  proslavery  action  of  the  North, 
with  the  recent  demonstration  of  Lincoln  to  the  black  com- 
mittee.* Morell  gave  me  a  copy  of  his  Grammar,  and  Fitch 
of  his  Arithmetic.  It  is  now  Friday  morning.  Morell, 
Spencer,  and  Silsbee  are  to  dine  with  us  Sunday  night  at 
seven.  The  Scientific  Association  meets  at  Cambridge, 
October  ist.  Morell  does  not  go.  We  shall  go,  though 
whether  we  remain  till  the  close  is  uncertain.  .  .  . 

I  went  with  Spencer  at  his  request  to  see  Tyndall  re- 
specting the  republishing  of  his  forthcoming  book.  He  was 
at  the  Royal  Institution,  where  their  researches  are  carried 
on  in  a  dingy  hole  down  cellar,  which  Tyndall  denominated 
the  "den."  He  is  a  single  man  of  forty,  with  a  scanty 
strip  of  forehead,  and  big,  straight,  prominent  nose — the 
most  restless,  nervous  creature  I  ever  set  eyes  on.  We 
stayed  but  a  few  minutes,  and  nothing  was  said  of  anything 
but  the  book  and  the  publication  of  books. 

Saturday,  September  2?th. — Was  in  the  Exhibition  yester- 
day,! and  never  had  such  a  realizing  sense  of  the  humbug 
of  art  criticism.  "  Breadth,  depth,  simplicity,  truthfulness  "  ; 
"Truthfulness,  simplicity,  life,  beauty  —  a  splendid  little 
piece  of  Nature,"  etc.,  ad  infinitum. 

We  have  nothing  from  home  since  September  2d,  though 
we  watch  daily  and  with  extreme  avidity.  The  war  plot 
thickens  with  you.  Heaven  only  knows  how  the  knot  is  to 
be  cut ;  but  by  the  present  outlook  it  must  be  soon.  The 
sympathy  with  the  courage  and  spirit  of  the  South  is  uni- 
versal here.  Our  last  newspapers  are  the  nth  September, 

*  The  news  of  the  emancipation  proclamation  had  not  yet  reached 
England  to  confute  Prof.  Wilkes. 

f  He  was  in  the  picture  gallery  in  company  with  a  couple  of  art  critics. 


136  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

dispatches  by  telegraph  to  the  i2th.    We  wait  most  anxious- 
ly for  later  news. 

LONDON,  September  30,  1862. 

At  the  close  of  my  last  I  mentioned  that  we  had  invited 
Spencer,  Morell,  and  Silsbee  to  dine  with  us  on  Sunday 
evening  at  seven.  Spencer  invited  us  (Silsbee  and  our- 
selves) to  go  to  Kew  Gardens  in  the  afternoon,  or  rather 
to  go  first  to  Richmond,  which  is  three  or  four  miles  be- 
yond Kew,  and  see  the  scenery,  which  is  said  to  be  very 
fine,  and  then  return  by  a  small  boat  to  the  Garden.  We  did 
so,  taking  rail  at  ten  o'clock.  It  was  muddy,  foggy,  and 
semi-rainy,  the  nastiest  sort  of  a  morning.  As  we  left  the 
city  it  cleared  up,  but  upon  our  arrival  at  Richmond — eleven 
or  twelve  miles — it  had  again  clouded  up  densely ;  a  fog  cov- 
ered everything,  and  we  could  see  nothing.  Stopping  at 
an  inn,  we  took  a  little  lunch  and  proceeded  to  the  Gardens. 
Dr.  Joseph  Hooker,  the  most  philosophical  botanist  of  Eng- 
land, is  in  charge  of  the  Gardens.  Spencer  knows  him,  and 
intimated  that  he  should  call  upon  him,  and  he  would  per- 
haps accompany  us.  He  called.  We  went  on,  but  he  over- 
took us  alone  ;  the  doctor  did  not  accompany  him.  Spencer 
said  he  did  not  offer  to  come  out,  "  as  showing  the  Gardens 
is  no  doubt  a  great  bore  to  him."  We  wandered  round  till 
five  o'clock,  when  there  suddenly  came  a  heavy  rain.  We 
waited  under  a  large  horse-chestnut  tree  till  it  began  to  rain 
through,  and  then  started  amid  shower  and  mud  for  the  de- 
pot. We  were  getting  drenched,  so  Spencer  got  a  cab,  and 
we  got  into  the  place  with  an  immense  crowd,  all  driven  in  by 
the  shower,  which  made  it  doubtful  whether  we  could  all  be 
accommodated  by  the  train.  I  had  wished  to  take  the  half 
past  four  train,  but  Spencer  overruled  it  quite  abruptly — 
said  there  would  not  be  time  at  the  Gardens — that  we  could 
get  to  the  city  station  at  five  minutes  past  six,  and  be  at 
home  at  half  past  six,  in  abundant  time  for  dinner  at  seven. 
The  great  crowd  caused  delay  of  the  train,  and  when  we 


First  Visit  to  England.  137 

reached  the  station,  three  and  a  half  miles  from  our  place, 
not  a  vehicle  was  to  be  had,  so  we  had  to  foot  it  through 
the  mud  a  long  distance.  Got  a  cab  at  length,  and  got 
home  one  minute  before  seven,  bedraggled  with  wet  and 
mud.  Morell  was  waiting,  and  we  dined.  .  .  . 

I  have  been  over  to  the  Training  School  this  afternoon 
to  see  a  specimen  of  the  way  they  do  things.  It  was  very 
interesting,  and  shows  great  progress.  Principal  Fitch  is  a 
very  able  man — I  think  the  best  adapted  for  his  position 
that  they  have  in  this  country.  Spencer  called  to-day 
while  I  was  out,  and  left  us  an  introductory  note  to  Hux- 
ley, who  is  president  of  the  zoological  section.  It  was 
very  kind  and  quite  unexpected.  I  called  on  Prof.  Miller, 
at  King's  College.  He  received  me  pleasantly,  and  showed 
me  the  laboratory,  which  is  down  cellar,  but  more  roomy 
than  the  Royal  Institution.  He  was  disposed  to  discuss 
the  war,  but  couldn't  understand  what  we  were  fighting 
about.  We  go  to  Cambridge  to-morrow. 

CAMBRIDGE,  October  2,  1862. 

We  arrived  yesterday  on  the  bank  of  the  Cam.  All 
were  notified  to  proceed  to  the  Town  Hall  at  once  to 
secure  places.  We  inquired  of  a  fellow-passenger  the 
distance  from  the  station  to  the  hall,  and  were  told  "five 
minutes'  walk";  so  we  started  and  found  it  nearer  an 
hour's  walk.  There  was  a  great  crowd  of  applicants  for 
places.  The  hotels  were  all  filled ;  lodgings  only  were 
to  be  had,  and  there  was  a  book  with  registered  places, 
prices  varying  with  proximity  to  the  place  of  meeting. 
We  took  quarters  at  34  Jesus  Lane,  five  minutes'  walk 
from  the  centre  of  attraction,  and  opposite  Jesus  College. 
I  went  back  with  the  porter,  who  showed  us  how  to  pro- 
cure our  baggage  ;  then  went  to  the  hall  again  to  get  some 
information,  and  shortly  started  for  our  new  quarters  in 
Christ's  Lane.  The  town  is  a  confused  network  of  little 
crooked  lanes.  I  inquired  for  Christ's  Lane,  and  was  di- 
7 


I3^  Edward  Livingston   Yonmans. 

rected,  and  wandered  and  wandered  till  I  found  it.  I  then 
went  the  whole  length  of  it  and  couldn't  find  the  house. 
I  then  counted  the  numbers,  and  there  was  not  a  34  in  it. 
I  think  I  was  mad  at  the  town.  There  was  Christ's  Col- 
lege and  there  was  Christ's  Lane,  but  no  place  to  enter. 
So  I  attacked  every  person  I  met  on  the  general  subject  of 
the  theo-topography  of  Cambridge.  At  length  somebody 
asked  if  it  might  not  be  "Jesus"  Lane  that  I  wanted.  I 
told  him  "  Certainly."  Then  said  he,  "  You  will  find  it  near 
Jesus  College,  at  the  other  end  of  the  town."  So  I  found  it, 
and  a  quite  comfortable  place  it  is.  Opposite  is  a  low  stone 
building  used  as  a  store,  and  over  the  door  the  name  of 
the  keeper — G.  Death. 

The  first  meeting  was  last  night,  at  eight.  We  got  in 
at  7.30,  and  went  up  near  the  platform.  It  is  a  fine  lecture 
room  in  appearance  and  decoration,  but  without  the  slight- 
est ventilation.  Only  those  were  admitted  who  had  tickets, 
but  it  was  full— nine  hundred  or  a  thousand.  The  hall  was 
early  crowded,  and  such  a  hum  and  bustle  of  joyous  recog- 
nition I  never  before  witnessed.  The  English  on  such  an 
occasion  are  far  more  hearty  and  social  than  the  Americans. 
Everybody  was  busy  shaking  hands  and  chatting  with  every- 
body, and  at  the  same  time  watching  and  inquiring  who 
were  present.  The  president-elect  was  Rev.  Robert  Willis, 
Professor  of  Natural  Philosophy  at  Cambridge,  and  he  gave 
as  an  opening  address  of  an  hour  and  a  half  the  History  of 
the  Association.  It  appeared  in  full  in  next  morning's  Times. 
Prof.  Owen  moved  a  vote  of  thanks  with  a  little  speech, 
the  first  part  of  which  was  glib,  but  the  last  part  fizzled 
amazingly.  The  Dean  of  Ely,  a  high  ecclesiastical  func- 
tionary, seconded  the  motion,  with  a  little  speech  which, 
although  good,  tapered  to  a  vanishing  point  like  the  other. 
A  large,  florid,  very  fine-looking  man,  with  the  port  and 
semblance  of  old  Ike  Rowland,  and  something  of  the 
aspect  of  a  Methodist  parson,  appeared  before  us.  He 


First   Visit  to  England.  139 

had  a  lady  with  him,  evidently  his  wife,  and  they  took  the 
second  seat  in  front  of  us.  At  the  first  glance  I  whispered 
to  Kitty,  "  I  think  that  is  Dr.  Whewell  !  "  Presently  I  asked 
a  man  near  us  who  it  was,  and  he  replied,  "  The  Master  of 
Trinity !  " 

On  Thursday,  business  opened  at  eleven  by  addresses  by 
the  chairmen  of  the  several  sections.  There  is  no  general 
session.  We  selected  Huxley's,  in  the  department  of  zo- 
ology and  botany,  and  we  were  fortunate,  for  it  was  a  most 
admirable  address — explanatory  of  the  scope  and  purposes 
of  biology.  I  meant  to  have  got  his  classification,  and  shall 
yet ;  it  is  very  lucid.  Spencer  says  that,  of  all  the  scientific 
men  he  knows,  Huxley  is  the  only  one  who  understands  the 
importance  of  biology  and  sympathizes  with  his  work  in 
this  direction.  ...  In  the  geological  section  there  was  yes- 
terday some  fun.  Owen  came  down  on  Huxley  about  man 
and  monkeys  in  his  papers,  one  after  another.  The  two  men 
hate  and  despise  each  other.  Huxley  is  much  more  of  a 
man,  and  is  more  like  Spencer,  outspoken  and  independent. 
Owen  is  an  old  grandmother,  whose  business  is  to  nurse  her 
reputation — jealous  of  newcomers  and  exasperated  at  op- 
position. He  was  not  present  at  the  reading  of  Huxley's 
address.  .  .  .  Last  night  there  was  an  address  by  Tyndall 
before  the  association  in  the  lecture  room  ;  subject,  Water 
in  its  Several  Conditions.  It  was  altogether  the  most  bril- 
liant affair  of  the  kind  I  have  ever  seen.  .  .  .  The  new  phi- 
losophy of  forces  permeates  everything.  All  science  seems 
worked  with  reference  to  it.  Tyndall  not  only  assumed  it, 
but  it  was  the  foundation  of  his  philosophy.  While  I  was 
with  him  the  other  day  Spencer  started  the  point  of  using 
the  term  "  persistence  of  force  "  rather  than  "  conserva- 
tion." They  had  quite  a  spurt  over  it,  Tyndall  declining  to 
meddle  with  the  words  he  found.  But  to-day  Huxley  used 
the  term  "  persistence  of  force."  The  experiments  last  night 
were,  first,  testing  oxygen  and  hydrogen  separately  ;  second, 


140  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

exploding  them  together;  third,  bursting  iron  bottles  by 
freezing  ;  fourth,  exhibiting  the  formations  of  crystals  by 
the  electric  light  in  a  vacuum  ;  fifth,  formation  of  an  im- 
mense spectrum  on  a  screen — absorption  of  its  different  parts 
by  coloured  glasses  ;  and,  sixth,  regelation  of  iron.  He  had 
splendid  diagrams  of  the  glaciers,  but  hardly  referred  to 
them  ;  was  chiefly  occupied  with  the  watery  vapour  of  the  air 
and  its  relations  to  obscure  radiant  heat.  Tyndall  has  suffi- 
cient Irish  blood  and  temperament — not  brogue — to  remind 
me  constantly  of  Plunkett.  He  was  not  still  a  moment,  but 
bending  and  twisting  in  all  possible  shapes,  as  if  he  had  the 
St.  Vitus's  dance — twisting  his  legs  together,  bending  down 
to  the  desk,  and  working  and  jerking  himself  in  all  possi- 
ble directions.  Everybody  was  kept  wide  awake,  enter- 
tained, and  instructed.  It  was  a  work  of  enthusiasm. 

At  Cambridge  and  elsewhere  Youmans  learned 
much,  and  picked  up  many  hints  for  future  work,  but 
on  the  whole  he  was  not  sorry  to  return  home  after  an 
absence  of  four  months. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

THE  APOSTLE   OF  EVOLUTION. 
1863—1864.     Age  42-43. 

THE  next  year  (1863)  was  the  mid-year  of  the  war, 
the  year  of  the  great  victories  at  Gettysburg,  Vicks- 
burg,  and  Chattanooga,  but  none  the  less  a  time  of 
sore  anxiety,  for  no  one  could  as  yet  see  how  near  the 
end  was.  The  publishing  business,  in  which  Mr.  You- 
mans  had  already  so  many  broad  and  generous  inter- 
ests bound  up,  suffered  severely.  Telegrams  from 
the  battlefield  withdrew  people's  attention  from  sci- 
ence and  philosophy ;  and  the  violent  fluctuations  of 
an  ill-advised  currency  of  inconvertible  paper  added 
to  the  losses  of  a  curtailed  publishing  trade.  "  As 
things  are,"  said  Mr.  W.  H.  Appleton  one  day,  "  it  is 
no  object  to  publish  any  book ;  we  would  rather  stop 
business  if  it  were  possible."  The  plates  of  Social 
Statics  were  offered,  by  way  of  experiment,  to  "  three 
of  our  best  publishers.  They  liked  the  book,  and 
were  aware  of  the  favourable  position  of  the  author 
in  this  country,  but  they  did  not  want  to  publish  any- 
thing. They  were  compelled  to  issue  a  book  now 
and  then  to  keep  their  names  before  the  public,  but 
would  far  rather  sell  the  works  of  other  houses  than 
manufacture  themselves." 

I  cannot  expect  to  give  you  a  satisfactory  account  of 
the  sta.te  of  things  here  [wrote  Youmans  to  Spencer  a  little 

(141) 


142  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

later],  but  I  will  attempt  it;  the  fact  is,  you  ought  to  come 
here  and  spend  six  months  and  then  you  could  judge  for 
yourself.  The  difficulties  are,  first,  that  the  labour  and  ma- 
terials are  enormously  advanced  in  price;  composition  and 
stereotyping  are  doubled,  and  paper  is  trebled.  Govern- 
ment has  levied  a  tax  of  five  per  cent  directly  upon  all 
sales,  while  all  business  transactions  and  advertising  are 
also  heavily  taxed.  In  your  letter  you  comment  on  this 
state  of  things,  and  observe,  "  If  the  cost  of  labour  and  ma- 
terials has  risen,  I  do  not  see  why  the  cost  of  manufac- 
tured articles  does  not  rise  in  something  like  the  same 
proportion."  Well,  such  is  the  case  generally,  and  the  price 
of  books  in  some  instances  is  doubled.  Your  Essays,  which 
five  years  ago  would  have  been  a  dollar,  now  sell  for  two 
dollars. 

But  there  is  this  trouble — books  are  luxuries,  to  be 
bought  only  after  other  wants  are  supplied,  or  not  bought 
at  all  if  there  is  not  plenty  of  money.  People  finding  them- 
selves pressed  on  all  sides  by  exorbitant  prices  retrench 
when  they  can. 

Butter  has  gone  up  from  ten  to  fifty  cents  per  pound, 
and  a  considerable  portion  of  the  community  are  now 
abstaining  from  its  use. 

Moreover,  it  is  the  chief  book-buying  class — people 
formerly  in  easy  circumstances,  with  fixed  incomes — that 
now  suffer.  The  rate  of  interest  is  the  same,  and  their 
former  income  of  gold  is  now  an  income  of  greenbacks 
only  nominally  equal.  The  consequence  is,  that  as  the 
price  of  books  rises  the  sales  diminish  in  a  greater  ratio 
than  in  any  other  business.  But  though  sales  diminish,  the 
publisher  must  still  keep  up  his  stock. 

Mr.  Appleton  remarked :  "  Should  materials  fall  to  their 
former  prices,  I  should  lose  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  on 
paper  alone — printed  stock."  Again,  if  a  house  is  wealthy, 
like  Appletons'  or  Harper's,  it  matters  little  how  things  go; 


The  Apostle  of  Evolution.  143 

they  can  stand  it.  They  can  put  up  prices  stiffly,  and  let 
things  take  their  course.  But  not  so  with  the  trade  gen- 
erally. The  mass  of  booksellers  are  far  from  rich  ;  they 
must  sell,  if  at  the  smallest  profit ;  accordingly  they  yield 
to  the  pressure  and  sell  low.  The  book  business  at  the 
present  time  must  therefore  be  looked  upon  as  an  anomaly 
in  respect  to  the  relation  between  the  price  of  materials  and 
manufactured  products. 

Throughout  that  dreadful  summer  of  1863  Mr. 
Youmans  found  in  hard  work  the  best  specific  for 
nervous  depression.  He  was  busily  engaged  in  re- 
writing his  Chemistry,  so  as  to  take  account  of  the  re- 
markable discoveries  which  had  i  verthrown  the  old 
binary  theory  and  given  a  new  aspect  to  the  whole 
science.  Amid  the  beating  of  drums  and  the  bugle 
notes  of  regiments  starting  for  the  seat  of  war,  his 
work  was  most  thoroughly  and  conscientiously  done. 
While  this  was  going  on,  a  moment  of  acute  terror 
visited  the  city  of  New  York.  The  following  letters 
give  some  account  of  the  "  draft  riots  "  : 

Wednesday,  July  75",  1863. 

DEAR  FATHER  AND  MOTHER  :  We  are  in  the  midst  of 
very  exciting  times,  and  as  you  are  probably  informed  of 
it  by  the  newspapers  and  may  be  anxious  about  us,  I  drop 
you  a  line.  The  city  has  been  proclaimed  by  the  Governor 
to  be  in  a  state  of  insurrection,  and  he  is  certainly  right. 
The  mob  rules  the  city.  By  actual  violence  and  by  fear 
and  terror  they  control  everything.  They  commanded  the 
city  railroad  and  omnibus  establishments  to  stop  running 
or  they  would  set  fire  to  their  stables.  They  are  therefore 
all  stopped.  They  have  cut  the  telegraphs,  and  torn  up 
the  tracks  of  the  railroads  which  go  out  of  the  city,  to 
prevent  the  transmission  of  intelligence  and  the  entrance 


144  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

of  troops.  Having  broken  up  the  places  of  drafting  and 
burned  them  without  resistance,  they  then  went  to  burning 
negro  dwellings,  and  from  that  to  general  burning,  pillage, 
plunder,  theft,  robbery,  and  murder.  A  man  last  evening 
was  seized  and  choked,  in  front  of  our  house,  until  he  gave 
up  his  purse.  Men  are  knocked  down  and  robbed  every- 
where with  perfect  impunity,  for  the  police  are  gathered 
in  companies  to  fight  the  rioters  en  masse,  and  thus  the 
streets  are  left  unprotected.  Nor  dare  men  resist,  for 
worse  may  befall  them.  The  effect  of  intimidation  is 
tremendous,  and  the  mob  work  it  skilfully.  I  ventured 
out  this  forenoon  to  the  printer's — half  a  mile  or  so 
away.  While  I  was  there,  up  in  the  fifth  story,  where 
they  are  doing  my  work,  two  bullies  entered  the  office 
below  and  ordered  the  establishment  instantly  closed,  and 
ail  the  hands  (three  hundred)  turned  out,  or  else  they 
would  burn  the  building.  The  risk  was  real ;  the  order 
was  at  once  complied  with  and  business  stopped.  The 
two  bullies  went  right  on  doing  the  same  thing  to  other 
establishments  with  equal  success,  and  the  consequence  is 
that  the  streets  are  deluged  with  working  people  out  of 
business.  A  portion  of  this  crowd  is  of  course  sucked  into 
the  vortex  of  strife,  and  the  rest  so  clog  the  thoroughfares 
as  to  make  it  dreadful  for  the  military  to  fire.  The  inno- 
cent are  far  more  liable  to  suffer  than  the  guilty.  And  as 
there  is  no  other  way  under  heaven  but  to  fire,  great  num- 
bers of  women,  children,  and  innocent  men  are  injured. 
The  mob  is  nearly  all  composed  of  Irish,  and  they  are 
raging  for  the  blood  of  the  negroes.  We  hear  nothing  but 
"  damned  nigger  "  and  "  damned  abolitionists  "  in  all  direc- 
tions. But  when  the  blood  is  up,  nothing  comes  amiss. 
They  cleaned  out  a  whole  row  of  stores  on  Grand  Street 
yesterday.  A  hatter  thought  he  was  going  to  escape  by 
damning  niggers  too,  but  they  took  every  hat  out  of  his 
shop.  The  draft  is  no  doubt  unpopular,  but  those  news- 


The  Apostle  of  Evolution.  145 

papers  that  have  made  its  unpopularity  their  capital,  and 
raved  about  the  despotism  of  Lincoln,  have  got  more  than 
they  bargained  for.  We  are  very  comfortable,  and  hope 
the  storm  will  soon  pass  by,  so  that  in  ten  days  or  so  we 
may  be  able  to  leave  the  town.  But  there  is  no  knowing 
how  long  it  will  last. 

With  dear  love  to  all,  very  affectionately, 

E.  L.  YOUMANS. 
NEW  YORK,  Friday  evening,  July  77,  i86j. 

DEAR  SISTER  :  I  received  your  two  letters  to-day,  and 
was  every  way  relieved,  and  pleased  that  you  were  at  home. 
I  take  but  a  moment  to  write  ;  it  is  seven  o'clock,  and 
dangerous  to  be  out  later — if,  indeed,  it  is  safe  to  venture 
out  one  block  to  the  lamp-post.  The  fury  of  the  riot,  I 
think,  is  passed,  but  we  were  kept  awake  till  midnight  last 
night  by  the  firing  on  Second  Avenue.  We  are  well,  and 
oppressively  busy;  the  printers  are  pushing  on,  and  we 
shall  be  done  soon,  and  can  come  home,  which  I  greatly 
desire.  You  will  have  time  to  write,  so  don't  forget  us. 

Friday  morning,  July  24,  1863. 

DEAR  SISTER  :  Coming  in  at  D.  Appleton  &  Co.'s  I  find 
your  letter.  ...  I  first  heard  yesterday,  of  the  alarm  at 
Saratoga,  and  heard  it  had  been  very  serious.  I  am  drudg- 
ing with  desperation  to  get  things  along  as  fast  as  possible. 
I  did  have  hopes  of  getting  the  text  done  this  week.  Proof 
reached  380  last  night.  It  will  probably  make  450,  and  they 
will  get  to  410  or  420  to-morrow  night.  I  am  now  strain- 
ing everything  to  finish  next  week,  and  shall  come  up  the 
minute  the  last  line  is  corrected.  When  the  text  is  made 
there  will  then  be  the  contents  and  preface.  Kitty  can  do 
the  former  and  I  the  latter.  I  calculate  to  have  the  text 
done  by  Sunday  night. 

In  the  course  of  the  next  twelvemonth  the  sale  of 
the  New  Chemistry  attained  large  dimensions,  and 


146  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

not  the  least  gratifying  recognition  of  its  value  came 
in  an  order  from  Harvard  University  for  two  hundred 
copies.    Youmans  was  much  gratified  at  receiving  the 
following  letter  from  Dr.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes : 
21  CHARLES  STREET,  BOSTON,  March  10,  1864. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  You  may  remember — what  I  certainly 
have  not  forgotten — that  you  called  on  me  some  months 
since  and  left  me  a  copy  of  your  Class-Book  of  Chemistry. 
I  placed  it  upon  my  shelves,  thinking  that  at  some  future 
time  I  might  do  something  more  than  glance  over  it,  which 
was  all  I  pretended  to  do  at  that  time. 

Some  days  ago  I  had  occasion  to  look  at  it  for  some 
accidental  reason,  and  while  it  was  in  my  hands  I  was 
drawn  to  a  more  particular  examination  of  it.  I  read  the 
dedication,  and  liked  it  particularly.  I  read  the  preface, 
and  was  pleased  with  that.  I  read  the  introduction,  and 
was  struck  with  its  philosophical  breadth  and  the  simple 
clearness  of  its  style.  I  looked  over  all  the  illustrations, 
which  seemed  to  me  particularly  well  contrived  or  selected. 
I  had  become  interested  in  the  book,  and  read  various 
chapters  relating  to  matters  of  which  I  knew  something 
but  wished  to  know  more.  In  every  instance  I  was  very 
much  gratified  with  the  neatness  of  statement,  the  fresh- 
ness of  the  views  brought  forward,  showing  that  you  kept 
up  with  the  vanguard  of  science  instead  of  lingering  in  the 
rear.  I  was  also  pleased  with  the  unpretentious  way  in 
which  the  true  essentials  of  each  special  branch  of  the 
science  were  laid  down,  without  any  unnecessary  amplifi- 
cations for  the  sake  of  making  a  book,  as  is  too  commonly 
done.  I  was  furthermore  glad  to  see  that  the  proportions 
of  the  various  parts  were  preserved,  so  that  no  subject 
was  overdone  and  none  neglected. 

In  mentioning  your  book  to  Prof.  Bacon,  of  the  Har- 
vard Medical  School,  I  was  glad  to  find  that  he  agreed 
with  me  in  the  very  favourable  opinion  I  had  formed  of  it, 


The  Apostle  of  Evolution.  147 

and  that  it  was  on  the  list  of  books  recommended  by  him 
to  the  students.  For  myself,  I  consider  it  a  real  accession 
to  my  library,  and  renew  my  thanks  for  it  with  thrice  their 
first  cordiality.  And  so,  my  dear  sir,  I  have  the  pleasure 
of  signing  myself,  Your  truly  obliged  friend, 

O.  W.  HOLMES. 

Soon  after  rewriting  the  Chemistry,  Youmans  pub- 
lished, under  the  title  of  The  Correlation  and  Con- 
servation of  Forces,  a  collection  of  monographs  by 
Faraday,  Grove,  Liebig,  Carpenter,  and  Mayer,  with 
an  introduction  by  himself.  This  introduction  is  an 
able  condensed  statement  of  the  modern  doctrine  of 
forces,  with  its  pregnant  implications  for  the  guidance 
of  life.  The  book  was  just  what  people  needed,  and 
it  had  a  very  large  sale. 

As  a  consequence  of  his  visit  to  England,  You- 
mans had  been  instrumental  in  having  the  Appletons 
reprint  the  principal  works  of  Bain,  Huxley,  Tyndall, 
and  other  men  of  mark.  It  became  part  of  his  daily 
task  to  do  what  he  could  to  bring  these  volumes 
suitably  before  the  public.  In  this  he  was  much 
helped  by  his  wide  acquaintance  throughout  the 
country  among  teachers  and  others  interested  in  the 
spread  of  science.  Wherever  he  knew  a  competent 
reviewer  he  sought  his  aid  in  connection  with  the 
local  press.  In  New  York  his  journalistic  relations 
were  such  as  to  insure  the  widest  circulation  for  the 
reviews  he  himself  wrote.  These  were  usually  anal- 
yses clearly  bringing  out  the  positions  of  an  author, 
adducing  the  arguments  in  support  of  his  conclusions. 
This  was  exactly  the  kind  of  work  he  liked  and  ex- 
celled in.  The  results  attending  the  faithful  work  of 
himself  and  his  allies,  performed  as  it  was  in  the  midst 


148  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

of  the  turmoil  of  war,  were  satisfactory.  His  faith 
that  new  science  had  but  to  be  known  to  be  appre- 
ciated was  justified. 

While  enthusiastic  in  propagating  modern  views 
in  physics,  chemistry,  geology,  and  the  organic  sci- 
ences, contained  in  the  works  of  Tyndall,  Huxley, 
Darwin,  and  their  allies,  Youmans  felt  their  work  to 
be  tributary  to  that  of  disseminating  the  philosophy 
of  evolution.  As  presenting  the  supreme  organizing 
idea  of  modern  thought,  his  chief  effort  at  all  times  lay 
in  directing  inquirers  to  Mr.  Spencer's  works,  in  ex- 
plaining their  doctrines,  defending  them  from  mis- 
quotation and  misunderstanding — in  being,  in  short, 
the  American  apostle  of  evolution,  fervid,  instant  in 
season  and  out  of  season,  making  opportunities  where 
he  did  not  find  them.  A  series  of  extracts  from  the 
correspondence  of  1863  and  1864  will  illustrate  the 
zeal  and  efficiency  with  which  this  work  was  carried  on. 

NEW  YORK,  March  28,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  SPENCER  :  I  ought  to  have  written  you 
before,  but  have  been  delayed  partly  from  being  very  busy 
and  partly  to  get  some  information  concerning  the  state  of 
your  account.  But  so  great  is  the  pressure  in  the  depart- 
ment which  has  your  subscription  in  charge  that  I  have  as 
yet  quite  failed.  The  new  Cyclopaedia  is  just  finished,  and 
is  having  an  enormous  sale  !  The  presses  are  driven  day  and 
night  upon  it,  and  they  are  far  behind  their  orders.  The 
clerks  are  overworked,  and  I  have  not  pressed  them  for  the 
information  I  wanted.  .  .  .  The  subject  of  an  American 
edition  of  the  Essays  is  still  in  my  mind.  I  suspect  it  will 
come  to  that  at  last,  and  perhaps  soon.  The  book  trade  is 
recruiting.  I  feel  a  sort  of  embarrassment  at  soliciting 
anything  further  from  you  under  present  commercial  cir- 
cumstances, and  I  must  take  the  liberty  of  very  strongly 


The  Apostle  of  Evolution.  149 

urging  you  not  to  draw  money  from  this  side  at  the  present 
ruinous  condition  of  exchange. 

I  know  you  view  the  state  of  affairs  here  with  great 
apprehension,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  you  should ;  but 
we  are  NOT  going  to  the  devil.  "  My  word  for  it,"  if  you 
want  a  guarantee  !  I  believe  that  any  amount  you  may 
leave  in  the  hands  of  D.  Appleton  &  Co.  will  be  just  as 
safe  as  if  in  the  hands  of  the  best  London  publishing  house 
you  could  name.  It  would  be  far  better  to  let  it  lie  idle  in 
their  hands  a  considerable  time  than  to  draw  it  before  ex- 
change finds  its  equilibrium;  or,  better  yet,  you  can  have  it 
deposited  in  a  savings  bank,  where  it  will  draw  six  per  cent 
interest.  I  believe  those  institutions  are  entirely  trust- 
worthy. I  trust  them  myself  without  hesitation.  I  hope 
you  will  trust  us  for  the  present,  and  when  the  amount  of 
indebtedness  becomes  considerable,  if  exchange  is  still  high, 
it  would  be  better  to  invest  it  in  some  form  of  produce 
consigned  to  a  London  or  Liverpool  commission  house. 
Excuse  me  for  interfering  with  this  element  of  your  busi- 
ness. I  have  done  it  in  pure  friendliness,  and  I  shall  be 
grieved  and  disheartened  were  you  again  to  lose  as  you 
sacrificed  last  fall. 

I  received  the  advance  sheets  of  Prof.  Tyndall's  book 
on  Heat,  and  I  beg  of  you  to  express  to  him  my  sincere 
thanks  for  the  kindness.  The  Appletons  will  issue  it  at  the 
earliest  moment,  the  cuts  being  already  nearly  all  re-en- 
graved. It  is  a  very  fascinating  and  altogether  remarkable 
book,  and  it  will  be  a  pure  pleasure  for  me  to  work  for  its 
circulation.  It  cannot  fail,  I  think,  to  have  a  good  sale. 

Prof.  Huxley's  Lectures  to  Workingmen  we  have  is- 
sued,* and  the  Evidence  of  Man's  Place  in  Nature  is  in  the 

*  In  a  letter  to  his  sister,  dated  February  13,  1863,  Youmans  thus 
speaks  of  Huxley's  little  book :  "  There  came  at  the  same  time  from 
England  a  book  of  Huxley's  of  which  I  had  not  heard — six  lectures  to 
workingmen  on — what  do  you  think? — Darwinism.  The  most  perfect 


150  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

printers'  hands.  There  was  competition  for  the  latter 
volume.  The  Appletons  advertised  it  as  soon  as  I  re- 
turned, and  have  continued  to  do  so ;  the  Philadelphia 
publisher  of  Lyell's  new  work  wanted  it  badly,  and  ven- 
tured upon  the  ruse  of  announcing  it  from  advance  sheets; 
but  when  he  began  to  realize  that  if  he  persisted  the  Apple- 
tons  might  possibly  reprint  Lyell  upon  him,  he  prudently 
withdrew  from  the  contest.  The  work  is  now  in  the  best 
hands  that  could  have  it. 

So  you  see  we  are  getting  used  to  the  war,  and  there 
begins  to  be  liberty  again  to  think  of  something  else.  And 
speaking  of  "  liberty  "  reminds  me  of  Mill's  Liberty,  and 
the  growth  of  liberality  here,  of  which  it  is  an  illustration. 
When  it  first  appeared  I  tried  to  get  the  Appletons  to  pub- 
lish it,  but  they  were  afraid  of  its  radical  doctrines,  and 
other  houses  also  refused  it.  I  revived  it  again  recently, 
and  they  consented  to  issue  it.  But  on  advertising,  it 
turned  out  that  five  houses  had  simultaneously  announced 
it,  while  Ticknor  &  Fields,  of  Boston,  having  the  start  of 
all  the  others,  will  publish  it.  I  am  glad  we  are  to  have  it 
for  general  circulation.  I  have  read  Part  I  of  the  Biology 
with  great  interest.  I  think  more  can  be  done  with  this  than 
with  its  predecessors  in  the  way  of  business.  I  have  firm 
faith  that  as  your  philosophy  is  unfolded  it  will  be  better 
and  better  appreciated,  and  may  ultimately  prove  compen- 
sating and  indeed  very  profitable  to  you.  My  wife,  who 
happens  just  now  to  be  busy  directing  some  circulars  to 
those  of  your  subscribers  who  have  not  renewed  their  sub- 
little  gem  of  a  book  I  have  met  with  !  George  Appleton  sat  up  till  mid- 
night the  first  day  of  its  reception  to  read  it,  and  is  crazy  to  have  it  repub- 
lished.  My  first  impulse  was  to  send  you  my  copy,  but  I  decided  not  to, 
for  two  reasons:  It  would  distract  your  attention,  and  you  have  not 
strength  for  so  much  now  ;  and,  besides,  there  is  a  lecture  in  it  on  Method 
that  is  so  inimitable — Spencer's  idea  of  the  growth  of  science,  etc. — that  I 
am  ashamed  of  my  introduction  and  shall  reconstruct  it.  Huxley  beats 
Hugh  Miller  out  of  sight  in  lucidity." 


The  Apostle  of  Evolution.  1 5 1 

scriptions,  asks  to  be  very  kindly  remembered  to  you.  I 
thought  it  best  not  to  send  away  Parts  V  and  VI  any 
faster  than  they  were  paid  for.  Remember  me  with  kind 
regards  to  Mr.  Silsbee,  if  he  is  still  with  you  ;  and  believe  me, 
Faithfully  yours,  E.  L.  YOUMANS. 

29  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  LONDON,  W.  C.,  May  12,  1863. 

My  DEAR  YOUMANS:  Let  me  once  more  thank  you  for 
your  continued  attention  to  my  affairs,  which  is  the  more 
to  be  valued  by  me  as  being  given  under  your  present  great 
pressure  of  work.  Your  unflagging  enthusiasm  for  the  prop- 
agation of  advanced  ideas  is  something  quite  remarkable, 
and  the  spectacle  of  it  serves  one  as  a  kind  of  moral  tonic. 

I  read  to  Huxley  and  Tyndall  the  passages  in  your  let- 
ter concerning  them.  They  were  pleased  at  finding  their 
respective  reprints  so  rapidly  pushed  forward.  ...  I  am 
much  obliged  to  you  for  your  advice  respecting  the  dis- 
posal of  the  amount  due  to  me  from  Appletons.  I  asked 
the  opinions  of  several  mercantile  men  here  (one  an  Ameri- 
can), and  they  advise  me  to  draw  at  whatever  sacrifice.  I 
feel  somewhat  inclined  to  follow  this  advice,  notwithstand- 
ing your  protest.  I  cannot  but  think  that  the  comparative 
prosperity  you  describe  is  an  illusive  indication  of  your 
social  state,  and  results  from  the  spending  of  capital  rather 
than  revenue.  There  was  a  like  condition  of  things  during 
the  French  Revolution,  and  in  England  during  the  war  with 
France.  But  in  both  cases  there  came  a  fearful  prostration 
and  a  discontent  of  the  lower  classes,  which  would  probably 
have  produced  social  convulsion  had  not  the  repressive 
power  of  political  organization  been  so  great.  With  you 
there  is  nothing  like  so  great  a  repressive  political  organi- 
zation, and  under  the  same  intensity  of  popular  distress  a 
crash  would  be  much  more  likely  to  result.*  I  doubt  not 

*  Mr.  Spencer  was  probably  wrong  here.  I  doubt  if  any  other  gov- 
ernment in  existence  would  be  so  hard  to  overturn  by  a  social  convulsion 
as  that  of  the  United  States. 


IS2  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

that  you  would  afterward  recover  your  equilibrium,  but 
I  suspect  that  terrible  commercial  catastrophes  and  an  im- 
mense sacrifice  of  property  would  have  to  be  gone  through. 
On  the  whole,  I  prefer  to  lose  by  the  state  of  the  exchange 
than  to  run  the  risk  of  much  greater  loss.  Please,  therefore, 
when  the  account  has  been  made  out  let  the  balance  be 
transmitted.  I  was  greatly  obliged  to  Mrs.  Youmans  for 
her  interesting  letter  of  April  nth.  I  was  glad  of  her  in- 
formation and  opinion  respecting  the  war  and  its  prospects. 
The  view  she  takes  of  the  past  and  future  of  this  terrible 
struggle  is  one  in  which  I  perfectly  coincide. 

Ever  yours,  very  truly,      HERBERT  SPENCER. 

29  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  W.  C.,  October  28,  1863. 
MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  .  .  .  Thank  you  for  the  copy  of 
the  New  Englander  which  you  have  been  so  good  as  to 
forward.  The  review  it  contains  is  a  fair  representation 
of  the  first  part  of  First  Principles,  especially  considering 
that  it  is  written  by  a  minister.*  The  objections  made  are 
such  as  must,  of  course,  be  looked  for  from  such  a  quar- 
ter. One  point  in  it,  however,  annoys  me — viz.,  the  asser- 
tion that  I  belong  to  the  school  of  Comte.  This  is  a  mis- 
understanding which  I  am  anxious  to  rectify  ;  for,  though 
I  am  quite  ready  to  encounter  the  prejudices  raised  by 
opinions  which  I  hold,  I  do  not  like  to  bear  the  odium  of 
opinions  which  I  do  not  hold.  Dissenting  from  Comte  as 
I  do  on  all  those  points  that  are  distinctive  of  his  phi- 
losophy, I  object  to  being  classed  as  in  any  degree  his  dis- 
ciple. I  am  therefore  thinking  of  writing  a  letter  to  the 
New  Englander,  setting  myself  right  with  its  readers  on 
this  point.  Should  this  letter  appear,  I  should  be  glad  if 
you  could  get  it  republished  in  the  Tribune ;  for  I  fear 

*  This  review  was  written  by  Rev.  Jonathan  Ebenezer  Barnes,  of 
Middletown,  Conn.,  a  scholarly  and  thoughtful  clergyman,  whom  I  knew 
well  and  highly  respected.  He  died  at  an  early  age  in  1866. 


The  Apostle  of  Evolution.  153 

that  this  erroneous  notion  is  widely  spread,  and  may  do 
me  much  harm  if  not  rectified. 

In  the  last  number  of  the  North  American  Review  I  see 
an  interesting  article  on  the  Evolution  of  Language,  partly 
based  on  First  Principles.*  If  there  have  appeared,  or 
should  appear  hereafter,  any  noteworthy  criticism,  I  should 
be  glad  if  you  would  let  me  know,  so  that  I  can  get  copies 
of  them  through  Williams  &  Norgate,  who  have  now  be- 
come American  agents.  .  .  . 

Faithfully  yours,  HERBERT  SPENCER. 

The  foregoing  extract  is  inserted  in  advance  of 
some  of  earlier  date,  which  are  now  to  follow,  and 
which  present  a  continuous  story.  It  must  be  borne 
in  mind  that  up  to  this  time  none  of  Mr.  Spencer's 
books  had  been  reprinted  in  America  except  the  Edu- 
cation, though  First  Principles  and  part  of  the  Biology 
had  been  issued  to  subscribers  in  numbers,  as  pub- 
lished in  London. 

NEW  YORK,  Wednesday,  September  16,  1863. 
MY  DEAR  SISTER  :  I  want  very  much  to  go  up  [to  Sara- 
toga] to-night,  and  have  hitherto  hoped  to  do  so,  but  I  shall 
not  be  able.  Things  to  do — important  things — thicken, 
and  must  be  attended  to.  I  find  myself  in  such  a  position 
of  influence  with  the  New  York  men  that  I  must  avail  my- 
self of  my  opportunity.  .  .  .  Ripley  is  doing  the  splendid 
thing  by  me  in  the  Tribune,  and  the  more  I  know  him  the 
better  I  like  him.  He  is  broader  than  I  supposed,  and 

*  I  was  the  author  of  this  article,  published  in  the  North  American 
Review,  October,  1863  ;  and  it  was  followed  by  another,  entitled  The 
Genesis  of  Language,  in  the  same  Review,  October,  1869.  Neither  of 
these  have  been  republished  among  my  collected  writings,  because  the 
rapid  progress  of  linguistic  science  has  rendered  them  somewhat  anti- 
quated. 


154  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

much  of  his  apparent  narrowness  and  intolerance  I  have 
found  out  to  be  mere  bluster.     He  dined  with  us  the  other 

day. 

SARATOGA,  November  4,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  When  last  I  wrote  you  I  promised 
and  expected  to  write  again  very  soon,  but  the  plans  I  had 
formed,  depending  as  they  did  upon  seeing  many  persons, 
were  not  so  readily  executed  as  I  had  hoped,  and  I  thought 
best  to  delay  troubling  you  with  a  letter  until  I  could  com- 
municate something  definite  and  satisfactory.  My  purpose 
has  been,  from  the  beginning,  twofold — to  circulate  your 
writings  as  extensively  as  possible,  and  to  do  it  in  such  a 
manner  that  you  might  share  the  pecuniary  results. 

It  had  been  comparatively  easy  to  accomplish  the  first 
object  unembarrassed  by  the  second.  That  (which  would 
have  been  also  much  easier  under  usual  circumstances)  has 
been  made  difficult  by  the  state  of  the  times,  and  so  re- 
fractory have  been  the  elements  with  which  I  have  had  to 
work  that  I  could  not  urge  the  business  as  I  would  like  to 
have  done.  I  find  satisfaction,  however,  in  the  thought 
that  the  course  which  has  been  taken  is  perhaps  on  the 
whole  the  best. 

There  has  been  in  many  minds  a  helpful  progress  and 
ripening  of  opinion  respecting  your  philosophical  views, 
which  makes  the  present  a  fitter  time  for  action  than  would 
have  been  any  period  earlier.  As  respects  writing  to  you, 
what  I  have  lost  in  time  I  shall  now  make  up  in  quantity, 
and  must  trespass  upon  your  patience,  to  lay  before  you 
with  some  fullness  the  present  aspect  of  affairs. 

Some  weeks  since  I  urged  Mr.  William  Appleton  to  re- 
publish  the  present  volume  of  the  Essays  upon  the  same 
terms  as  the  Education.  He  read  it  and  spoke  highly  of  it, 
but  said  that  by  printing  it  you  would  gain  nothing  and  he 
would  lose.  I  replied  that  the  writings  of  Mr.  Spencer  had 
many  admirers  throughout  the  country,  and  that  I  thought 
their  relations  to  the  author  had  in  them  so  much  of  sym- 


The  Apostle  of  Evolution.  155 

pathy  and  personal  interest  that  they  might  be  counted 
upon  to  assist  the  circulation  of  the  work.  He  replied : 
"We  have  a  great  deal  of  that  kind  of  talk  in  the  course  of 
business,  but  it  will  not  do  as  a  basis  of  action.  Yet,  if  Mr. 
Spencer  has  friends  who  are  so  much  interested  in  his 
thought  that  they  are  willing  to  divide  with  me  the  risk  of 
publication,  I  will  meet  them  with  an  equal  liberality. 
Whatever  their  action  produces  shall  result  in  an  increased 
dividend  to  Mr.  Spencer."  This  was  certainly  fair,  and  all 
I  could  desire ;  I  have  therefore  taken  action  accordingly. 
But  let  me  here  state  that  Mr.  Appleton's  refusal  to 
publish  the  book  is  by  no  means  to  be  taken  as  an  index 
to  the  universal  publishing  mind.  This  house  is  proverbi- 
ally slow  and  cautious;  other  establishments  are  more  ven- 
turesome and  ready,  and  would  be  unhindered  by  any  con- 
sideration of  copyright.  I  have  reason  to  know  that  there 
has  been,  and  is  now,  much  danger  of  your  books  being 
seized  upon  by  other  houses.  The  long  and,  I  think,  ex- 
ceedingly favourable  review  (considering  its  orthodoxy)  of 
First  Principles  in  the  October  New  Englander  (a  copy  of 
which  I  have  ordered  sent  you  at  Derby),  the  recent  article 
in  the  North  American  Review,  which  the  author  *  will  send 
you,  and  other  indications,  show  a  growing  appreciation  of 
your  works,  and  I  am  sure  that  the  danger  is  imminent  of 
their  seizure  by  other  houses.  The  effect  of  this  would  be 
that  you  would  get  nothing  from  the  new  publisher,  while 
the  competition  immediately  arising  would  make  it  im- 
possible that  any  other  house  should  pay  you  anything. 
Should  Blanchard  f  publish  First  Principles — and  it  is  far 

*  I  had  just  met  Youmans  for  the  first  time  three  days  before  this 
letter  was  written,  as  will  appear  below. 

f  Calvin  Blanchard,  a  disreputable  publisher  who  kept  a  shop  on  Nas- 
sau Street,  where  you  could  buy  any  kind  of  book  that  your  minister 
would  frown  upon — whether  for  free  thought  or  for  obscenity  made  little 
difference  to  this  unsavoury  Calvin.  It  is  odd  to  find  him  wanting  to  pub- 


156  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

from  impossible  (I  prevented  him  from  publishing  Social 
Statics) — it  would  not  only  ruin  the  entire  subscription 
project,  but,  by  mingling  your  name  with  the  gang  of  ob- 
scene, prurient,  and  scoffing  authors  whom  he  patronizes  and 
advertises,  would  make  it  very  embarrassing  for  others. 

Perceiving,  then,  as  I  thought,  all  the  bearings  of  the 
case — the  hope  of  advantage  and  the  danger  of  loss — I 
determined  to  proceed  from  Mr.  Appleton's  proposition  as 
a  base,  and  see  what  might  be  done.  I  have  accordingly 
spent  the  last  three  weeks  in  a  tour  of  observation  and 
inquiry  through  New  England,  to  make  the  acquaintance 
of  some  of  those  who  have  taken  interest  in  your  writings, 
and  I  have  had  a  most  gratifying  experience.  I  found  with 
most  of  them  a  hearty  and  earnest  appreciation  for  your 
labours  and  a  deep  solicitude  for  their  continuance. 

There  was  a  uniform  and  strong  desire  that  your  books 
should  be  issued  here  in  a  form  suited  to  the  American 
market,  and,  I  need  not  add,  a  cordial  and  unanimous  wish 
that  you  should  reap  every  practicable  pecuniary  advan- 
tage. The  plan  I  proposed  met  with  general  concurrence, 
and  it  was  resolved  to  issue  one  of  your  volumes  at  once 
upon  the  terms  offered  by  Mr.  Appleton. 

I  have  not  seen  that  gentleman  lately,  but  expect  to 
talk  with  him  soon,  and  arrange  the  precise  terms  of  the 
undertaking.  There  was  some  diversity  of  sentiment  as  to 
which  of  your  works  should  be  selected  for  publication, 
but  it  was  generally  thought  your  Essays  would  be  most 
successful.  Others  considered  it  more  desirable  to  issue 
First  Principles,  and  in  behalf  of  this  opinion  it  was  said 
that  this  being  your  latest  work,  and  coming  forward  into 
notice  as  the  opening  of  a  new  system  of  philosophy,  it  will 
be  more  in  demand.  In  this  stage  of  the  matter  I  should 
be  glad  to  learn  what  you  think  upon  this  point,  and  also 

lish  Social  Statics.  Probably  somebody  had  told  him  that  the  author  was 
an  "  infidel "  or  a  "  positivist."  That  would  have  been  enough. 


The  Apostle  of  Evolution.  157 

to  get  a  statement  concerning  the  forthcoming  volume  of 
Essays.  Will  you  not  send  me  its  table  of  contents,  and 
tell  me  how  much  it  will  make,  what  will  be  its  price, 
whether  you  have  begun  to  print,  whether  it  is  now  too 
late  to  negotiate  for  a  large  edition,  and,  if  not  too  late, 
on  what  terms  it  could  be  procured  ?  Should  we  publish 
the  present  Essays,  could  we  not  procure  editions  of  First 
Principles  and  of  the  new  series,  by  taking  a  considerable 
number,  so  near  to  cost  price  that  we  could  afford  to  throw 
them  into  the  American  market  as  high-priced  American 
books,  and  thus  secure  a  supply  and  forestall  competition  ? 
I  fear  that  the  rate  of  exchange  will  make  this  utterly  im- 
practicable, and  at  any  rate  it  is  only  a  suggestion  of  my 
own,  and  amounts  to  nothing  until  I  see  Mr.  Appleton.  My 
chief  anxiety  now  is  to  learn  concerning  the  new  volume 
of  Essays.  We  may  choose  to  print  a  volume  selected  from 
the  two,  particularly  if  it  is  impossible  to  arrange  for  an 
American  edition  of  the  second  series.  How  does  that 
notion  strike  you?  It  would  be  every  way  desirable  to 
make  the  book  we  issue  now  as  complete  a  business  success 
as  possible.  Such  a  result  would  be  highly  salutary  in  all 
directions.  If  desirable,  another. volume  could  follow  with 
the  remaining  essays.  I  wish,  however,  to  begin  in  such  a 
way  that  step  by  step  we  shall  get  all  your  works;  for  a 
very  common  experience  with  us  is,  that  when  a  person 
has  procured  one  he  subsequently  wants  the  rest,  and  it  is 
most  desirable  also  that  they  should  all  be  procurable  in 
one  place.  Again,  I  want  a  popular  introductory  statement 
of  your  scheme  of  philosophy  to  prefix  to  the  volume  we 
publish — something  continuous;  readable,  and  attractive. 
Your  synopsis  is  of  course  invaluable,  and  should  be  pub- 
lished at  the  close  of  the  volume,  but  it  is  not  the  thing  to 
win  strangers.  I  am  not  competent  to  do  that  any  sort  of 
justice;  I  will  do  the  best  I  can  with  such  assistance  as  I 
can  get,  but  I  should  be  glad  of  any  hints  from  you ;  or,  if 


158  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

there  has  been  any  sketch  of  the  kind  in  newspaper  or 
review,  will  you  not  send  it  to  me,  if  convenient  ? 

It  has  been  suggested  that  the  term  Essays  is  the  worst 
title  by  which  a  book  can  be  known,  and  that  this  class  of 
works  is  generally  least  successful  of  all.  There  may  be 
something  in  the  suggestion,  but  I  should  not  like  to  inter- 
fere with  an  author's  preferences.  Would  you  object  to  a 
change,  or,  if  we  should  compose  a  volume  out  of  the  two, 
could  you  not  suggest  something  fresh,  sharply  defined,  and 
"taking"?  You  have  a  remarkable  facility  in  this  ;  it  struck 
me  long  since,  and  I  have  heard  many  remark  it.  I  will 
not  protract  this  letter,  as  I  have  communicated  all  that  is  of 
special  importance.  I  will  write  you  again  soon,  and  speak 
of  some  persons  I  met  and  their  relations  to  your  writings. 

I  look  forward  to  the  time,  and  I  believe  it  is  not  very 
distant,  when  all  your  books  will  be  republished  here,  and 
you  will  have  an  extensive  and  appreciative  American 
audience.  In  view  of  this,  if  there  were  any  articles  or 
parts  of  articles  in  the  Essays  which  have  reappeared  or 
are  to  reappear  in  the  early  parts  of  your  serial  you  might 
perhaps  choose  to  omit  them.  We  have  decided  to  publish 
one  book  now,  and  it  will  probably  be  the  Essays. 

The  action  I  have  taken  is  to  me  a  great  source  of 
pleasure.  I  have  enjoyed  it  every  way,  and  have  a  deep 
gratification  in  its  promise  of  future  results.  You  very 
kindly  allowed  me  to  take  the  thing  into  my  own  hands, 
and  I  have  adopted  the  course  which  all  approve  and  think 
wisest.  I  trust  your  health  continues  as  good  as  you  last 
reported  it.  I  am  afraid  you  will  have  trouble  to  read 
what  I  have  written,  but  my  wife  (who  begs  to  be  kindly 
remembered  to  you)  thinks  it  may  be  readable.  Please 
remember  us  both  with  very  kind  regards  to  your  father 
and  mother,  who  are,  we  hope,  still  in  good  health. 
Yours  very  truly  and  sincerely, 

E.  L.  YOUMANS. 


The  Apostle  of  Evolution.  1 59 

The  unconsciousness  of  the  opening  paragraph  ot 
Mr.  Spencer's  next  letter  is  charming: 

6  HINDE  STREET,  MANCHESTER  SQUARE,  November  18,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  I  have  been  hoping  for  sotne 
time  past  to  hear  from  you.  I  suppose,  however,  that  the 
getting  out  of  your  Chemistry  has  absorbed  all  your  atten- 
tion ;  and  also,  perhaps,  that  you  have  nothing  special  to 
report. 

I  fear  that  the  present  disastrous  state  of  things  with 
you  will  have  an  injurious  effect  on  your  literary  enter- 
prise, as  well  as  on  the  enterprises  of  others.  It  is  reported 
here  that  the  New  York  publishers  have  agreed  to  bring 
out  no  more  new  books  for  the  present.  Is  this  true  ?  and, 
if  so,  how  will  it  affect  you  ?  .  .  . 

November  21. — Had  it  not  been  that  I  had  lost  my  copy 
of  the  Reader  which  contained  the  accompanying  extract, 
and  that  I  have  been  delayed  in  getting  another  copy,  I 
should  have  posted  the  enclosed  sheet  to  you  three  days 
ago — that  is,  before  the  arrival  of  your  welcome  letter, 
which  reached  me  last  night. 

The  energy  and  self-sacrifice  you  continue  to  show  in 
the  advancement  of  my  scheme  quite  astonishes  me  ;  and 
while  in  one  respect  it  is  very  gratifying  to  me,  yet  in  an- 
other it  gives  me  a  certain  uncomfortable  sense  of  obliga- 
tion more  weighty  than  I  like  to  be  under.  If  it  were  not 
that  this  sense  of  obligation  is  in  some  degree  qualified  by 
the  consciousness  that  you  are  in  great  part  prompted  to 
what  you  do  by  your  love  of  truth  and  your  philanthropic 
desire  to  aid  the  spread  of  it,  my  feeling  on  the  matter 
would  be  really  oppressive.  Similarly,  though  in  a  smaller 
degree,  the  results  of  the  tour  you  describe  give  me  a 
pleasure  which,  though  great,  is  not  unmixed.  While  I 
am  rejoiced  to  find  so  much  interest  felt  by  many  of  your 
countrymen  in  the  diffusion  of  my  writings,  yet  the  con- 
sciousness that  they  run  any  risk  in  aiding  this  diffusion  is 


160  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

a  somewhat  painful  one  to  me.  However,  I  hope  that  what 
steps  are  taken  will  be  taken  with  such  caution  that  those 
who  stand  in  the  position  of  guarantors  will  surfer  no 
loss.  .  .  . 

»The  first  part  of  this  letter  answers  several  of  the 
questions  contained  in  yours.  The  new  volume  of  Essays 
is  now  issued  here,  and  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  copies  for 
America  are  on  their  way  to  you.  In  printing  these  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  only  for  your  market  I  acted  on  the  opinion 
which  you  sent  me,  and,  not  anticipating  any  such  step  as 
that  which  you  are  proposing  to  take,  did  not  stereotype. 
Unfortunately,  therefore,  we  cannot  supply  you  with  a 
cheap  edition  of  this  book  from  the  English  type.  Of  First 
Principles  you  can,  as  I  think  you  know,  have  an  unlimited 
supply  at  a  cheap  rate.  ...  I  am  by  no  means  sure,  how- 
ever, that  First  Principles  would  be  the  best  book  to  start 
with.  I  agree  in  the  impression  that  the  Essays  are  more 
likely  to  be  popular.  I  agree  also  in  the  belief  that  the 
title  Essays  is  a  bad  one ;  and  I  agree  also  in  the  notion 
that  a  selection  from  the  two  series  of  Essays  would  be  the 
most  likely  to  succeed.  The  contents  of  the  new  volume 
are  as  follows:  The  Nebular  Hypothesis,  Illogical  Geol- 
ogy, The  Physiology  of  Laughter,  Bain  on  the  Emotions 
and  the  Will,  The  Social  Organism,  Representative  Gov- 
ernment— What  is  it  good  for  ?  Parliamentary  Reform  ;  the 
Dangers  and  the  Safeguards,  Prison  Ethics,  State  Tamper- 
ings  with  Money  and  Banks,  The  Morals  of  Trade.  Now, 
bearing  in  mind  all  that  you  tell  me,  the  proposal  I  make 
is  this:  i.  That  you  sell  off  the  two  hundred  and  fifty 
copies  of  the  new  series  of  Essays  as  soon  as  you  get  them 
at  the  ordinary  American  prices ;  and  similarly  with  what 
you  have  remaining  of  the  first  series,  so  that  the  high- 
priced  stock  may  be  at  once  got  rid  of.  2.  That  out  of  the 
two  series  you  then  select  all  the  essays  bearing  directly 
on  the  doctrine  of  evolution,  viz.,  Progress — Its  Law  and 


The  Apostle  of  Evolution.  161 

Cause,  The  Nebular  Hypothesis,  Illogical  Geology,  Tran- 
scendental Physiology,  Bam  on  the  Emotions  and  the  Will, 
The  Social  Organism,  The  Genesis  of  Science,  Manners  and 
Fashion,  The  Origin  and  Function  of  Music;  and  that  this 
group  of  essays  be  republished  under  some  such  title  as,  . 
How  all  Things  Progress.  3.  That  if  this  succeeds,  I  then 
supply  you  with  a  thousand  First  Principles,  at  such  price 
as  to  be  sold  at  American  rates.  The  further  steps  would, 
of  course,  be  decided  by  the  results  of  these.  Such  a  volume 
of  essays  as  that  which  I  have  described  would,  I  think, 
be  popular  ;  and  would  be  a  good  introduction  to  the  Sys- 
tem of  Philosophy.  Moreover,  the  popular  sketch  of  the 
System  of  Philosophy  would  form  a  good  prefix  to  such  a 
volume  of  essays;  since  the  essays  would  be  so  many 
illustrations  of  it. 

When  you  see  Mr.  Appleton,  thank  him  for  the  very 
liberal  course  he  has  taken  on  this  matter,  as  on  all  pre- 
ceding matters.  He  has  done  much  more  than  was  to  be 
expected  from  one  in  his  position.  I  will  see  whether  I  can 
find  any  appropriate  materials  for  such  a  sketch  as  you 
propose,  and,  if  so,  will  send  them  to  you. 

Mrs.  Youmans  was  quite  right  in  not  copying  your  letter 
for  you.  I  made  it  out,  save  one  or  two  words,  with  but 
little  difficulty.  I  am  glad  to  hear  of  your  settled  inten- 
tions for  the  spring,  when  I  hope  to  see  much  more  of 
you  both  than  I  did  before.  Meanwhile  I  am  again, 

Very  truly  yours,  HERBERT  SPENCER. 

SARATOGA  SPRINGS,  November  23,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  SPENCER  :  In  my  last  letter  sent  to 
Derby  I  mentioned  the  measures  I  had  recently  been 
taking  to  bring  about  an  American  reprint  of  your  books. 
We  want  them  for  general  circulation. 

Sooner  or  later  they  will  be  republished.  This  will  end 
the  sale  of  English  copies,  and  if  not  attended  to  will  cut 
you  off  from  any  pecuniary  advantage.  Conscious  of  the 


1 62  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

injustice  of  our  copyright  law,  your  friends  have  resolved 
that  you  shall  not  be  the  loser.  They  accept  Mr.  Apple- 
ton's  proposal  and  will  furnish  him  the  stereotype  plates, 
while  he  pledges  himself  to  pay  you  double  the  usual  copy- 
right, or  twenty  per  cent  upon  the  sales.  This  arrange- 
ment, as  I  wrote  you,  refers  to  the  Essays,  and  we  are  now 
ready  and  anxious  to  go  forward  with  the  book,  and  only 
wait  to  hear  from  you  respecting  revision.  .  .  . 

I  promised  in  my  former  letter  to  give  you  some  further 
particulars  of  my  recent  visit  East.  It  was  undertaken,  as 
I  mentioned  before,  with  a  view  to  concerting  measures 
with  those  who  are  interested  in  your  works,  for  bringing 
them  before  the  public,  and  the  result  was  in  a  high  degree 
encouraging  to  your  prospects.  I  found  everywhere  a 
deep  interest  in  your  writings  (though  in  some  cases  but  a 
partial  mastery  of  them),  and  a  desire  to  learn  of  your 
personal  welfare  as  if  they  had  been  old  friends.  I  was 
heartily  thanked  for  offering  them  an  opportunity  of  doing 
something  to  promote  the  circulation  of  your  writings,  and 
I  think  an  important  effect  of  the  course  taken  will  be  to 
secure  additional  attention  and  more  prominent  notice  of 
future  publications. 

At  Bangor,  Me.,  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  Rev. 
Charles  Carroll  Everett,  a  Unitarian  clergyman  of  large 
liberality  and  with  a  fine  reputation  for  ability  and  scholarly 
attainments,  who  was  the  author  of  the  review  of  First  Prin- 
ciples in  the  Christian  Examiner.  He  is  a  thorough  student 
of  your  various  writings,  and  much  in  sympathy  with  their 
spirit  and  aims.  A  brother  parson  was  rallying  him  a  while 
since  on  his  endorsing  a  philosophy  which  began  without 
God  and  ended  without  freedom.  He  replied  "that  these 
first  generalizations  of  Spencer's  are  only  the  emerging 
peaks  of  the  rising  continent." 

At  Portland,  Me.,  I  met  the  Rev.  Horatio  Stebbins,  who 
had  been  with  great  reluctance  induced  by  Mr.  Alger,  of 


The  Apostle  of  Evolution.  163 

Boston,  to  subscribe  for  the  serial.  His  interest  in  the  work 
had  led  him  to  procure  your  other  writings,  and  he  was  ex- 
tremely desirous  that  they  should  be  republished  in  this 
country.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Alger  is  not  only  an  appreciative 
student  of  your  works,  but  a  confessed  and  ultra-enthusi- 
astic disciple.  He  is  a  gentleman  of  much  culture  and  re- 
finement, but  his  training  has  been  rather  scholastic  than 
scientific.  Charles  Sumner  was  an  admiring  reader  of  your 
Social  Statics,  and  boasts  that  he  had  the  first  copy  in  this 
country.  He  acknowledges  large  indebtedness  to  it,  but 
his  former  bad  health  and  the  pressure  of  public  duties,  he 
regretted  to  say,  had  prevented  him  from  following  up  your 
subsequent  publications.  Wendell  Phillips,  the  "  golden- 
tongued,"  was  happy  to  be  ranked  as  a  reader  and  admirer 
of  Mr.  Spencer's  writings.  He  had  read  Social  Statics 
early,  often  quoted  its  author  in  his  discussions,  and  asked 
me  when  I  wrote  you  to  convey  to  you  his  cordial  respects, 
with  an  acknowledgment  of  his  deep  indebtedness  to  your 
labours.  He  was  delighted  with  the  project  of  reissuing 
your  books,  and  begged  to  be  used  in  any  way  that  would 
forward  the  undertaking.  Mr.  G.  B.  Emerson,  an  eminent 
and  influential  educator  of  Boston,  expressed  great  pleasure 
in  the  hope  of  having  all  your  works  in  American  form,  and 
asked  me  to  say  to  you  that  if  your  readers  in  this  country 
are  not  numerous,  they  are  at  least  appreciative  and  multi- 
plying. 

Upon  approaching  the  University  of  Cambridge,  the 
brain  of  Boston,  the  interest  deepened.  Prof.  Asa  Gray 
expressed  astonishment  that  the  serial  had  not  succeeded 
eminently,  both  in  this  country  and  in  Europe,  and  could 
hardly  credit  the  statement  that  it  had  not  paid  its  own 
expenses.  He  did  not  seem  to  be  much  interested  in  the 
republication  of  the  old  books,  but  thought  something  ought 
to  be  done  immediately  to  advance  the  circulation  of  the 
work  now  being  issued.  The  first  six  numbers  he  had  not 


164  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

read,  for  Dr.  Walker  (formerly  president  of  the  college)  had 
borrowed  them.  He  was,  however,  much  interested  in  the 
Biology;  thought  it  promised  to  be  more  taking  than  its 
predecessors,  and  might  be  made  popular. 

Dr.  Thomas  Hill,  present  president  of  the  college,  told 
me  that  he  was  not  a  subscriber  to  the  serial  and  had  not 
read  First  Principles  ;  but  he  had  prepared  a  sermon  directed 
against  its  doctrines  (no  names  being  mentioned),  which  he 
considered  but  a  reproduction  of  the  French  atheism  of  the 
last  century. 

There  is  a  literary  club  in  Cambridge,  embracing  the 
president  and  some  of  the  professors,  at  the  monthly  meet- 
ings of  which  an  essay  from  one  of  the  members  is  read 
and  discussed.  I  gathered  from  various  remarks  that  the 
philosophy  of  Herbert  Spencer  was  brought  up  at  the  last 
meeting  by  an  essay  of  Dr.  Walker,  the  borrower  of  Gray's 
numbers.  The  college  is  in  the  midst  of  a  ferocious  fight 
between  the  scientists  and  the  classicists,  the  latter  having 
become  alarmed  at  the  inroads  of  the  former.  The  new 
president  is  regarded  as  a  triumph  of  science,  and  I  suspect 
that  his  newly  prepared  sermon  may  be  intended  to  con- 
ciliate the  adverse  party. 

I  tracked  out  the  author  of  the  article  on  the  Evolution 
of  Language,  in  the  last  North  American,  who  proved  to  be 
a  very  able  young  fellow,  only  twenty-one,  named  Fiske — a 
resident  graduate  of  Cambridge  and  a  student  of  the  law 
school.  You  may  remember  I  mentioned  to  you  an  article 
in  the  National  Quarterly  on  Buckle,  which  had  a  refer- 
ence to  you.  That  article  was  also  by  Fiske.*  He  has  an 
intimate  companion  named  Roberts,  and  they  have  read, 
pondered,  and  discussed  together  every  line  of  yours  they 
could  obtain,  in  volume  or  review.  First  Principles  thoy 
have  read  through  twice  together,  and  they  have  not  only 

*  Mr.  Buckle's  Fallacies,  National  Quarterly  Review,  December,  1861 ; 
republished  in  my  Darwinism,  and  Other  Essays. 


The  Apostle  of  Evolution.  165 

adopted  your  philosophy  but  assimilated  it,  employing  your 
terminology  habitually  in  conversation.  While  Fiske  is 
busy  with  the  principle  of  evolution  in  its  application  to 
language,  Roberts  is  applying  it  to  the  history  of  juris- 
prudence. Their  three  favourite  authors  are  Spencer,  Mill, 
and  G.  C.  Lewis,  although  they^did  not  consider  the  last 
two  comparable  with  the  first.  *  They  are  brimful  of  fire 
and  enthusiasm,  and  may  be  relied  on  for  important  assist- 
ance. 

The  editor  of  the  North  American  Review*  erased  the 
passages  from  Fiske's  article  which  were  most  compli- 
mentary to  you,  but  the  periodical  has  now  passed  into 
other  hands,  f  which  we  trust  are  more  liberal.  Mr.  Fiske 
has  been  solicited  to  become  a  regular  contributor,  and 
says  he  will  never  again  submit  to  the  mutilation  of  his 
articles.  The  young  men  had  been  debating  for  a  year 
whether  it  would  do  to  write  to  you,  and  as  I  took  the 
liberty  of  encouraging  them  to  do  so  I  presume  you  have 
heard  from  them  before  this  time.  Prof.  Wm.  B.  Rogers, 
who  has  constant  fights  with  Agassiz  about  the  develop- 
ment hypothesis,  was  another  of  those  appreciative  friends 
who  acknowledged  the  value  of  your  labours  and  expressed 
a  desire  to  be  of  assistance  to  our  project. 

While  in  Boston  I  met  Mr.  Silsbee,  who  was  in  remark- 
ably fine  health,  his  northern  expedition  having  evidently 
been  of  immense  benefit  to  him.  He  heartily  approved  of 
my  plans,  and  was  of  considerable  assistance  to  me.  To 
resume  business,  I  may  add  that  several  of  our  leading  and 
most  important  organs  of  public  opinion  (newspapers  and 
periodicals — Silliman's  Journal,  Atlantic  Monthly,  Boston 
Journal  and  Transcript,  the  New  York  Tribune,  Times, 
and  Evening  Post)  are  pledged  to  full  notices  of  anything 
from  your  pen.  As  I  should  like  to  bring  these  influences 

*  Rev.  Andrew  Preston  Peabody. 

f  James  Russell  Lowell  and  Charles  Eliot  Norton. 


1 66  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

to  bear  upon  your  philosophy,  I  am  especially  anxious  to 
get  the  First  Principles  in  hand  as  soon  as  possible.  With 
earnest  wishes  for  your  health  and  general  well-being,  I 
remain, 

Very  cordially  yours,  E.  L.  YOUMANS. 

In  reading  this  letter  for  the  first  time,  almost  thirty 
years  since  it  was  written,  and  five  years  since  all  that 
was  mortal  of  my  noble  friend  was  laid  in  the  grave, 
many  bright  and  tender  reminiscences  are  awakened. 
Subtle  links  of  causation  had  begun  to  join  our  lives 
together  before  we  ever  met.  It  was  owing  to  You- 
mans that  the  first  volume  of  Buckle's  History  of 
Civilization  was  reprinted  by  the  Appletons  in  1858. 
A  copy  was  not  long  in  finding  its  way  to  Middletown, 
Conn.,  where  I  soon  got  hold  of  it  and  devoured 
it.  Many  years  would  probably  have  passed  before  a 
copy  of  the  London  edition  would  have  reached  that 
little  town.  I  thus  owed  to  Youmans  the  most  power- 
ful intellectual  stimulus  of  those  early  years  and  the 
occasion  of  my  first  published  essay.  The  study  of 
Buckle  led  directly  to  Mill's  System  of  Logic  and  to 
Comte's  Philosophic  Positive,  which  interested  me  as 
suggesting  that  the  special  doctrines  of  the  several 
sciences  might  be  organized  into  a  general  body  of 
doctrine  of  universal  significance.  Comte's  work  was 
crude  and  often  wildly  absurd,  but  there  was  much  in 
it  that  was  very  suggestive.  I  have  already  mentioned 
how,  early  in  1860,  Youmans  first  saw  the  prospectus 
of  Spencer's  proposed  series  of  works  setting  forth 
the  doctrine  of  evolution,  and  how  he  wrote  his  first 
letter  to  Spencer  the  very  next  day.  It  was  at  about 
the  same  time  that  I  first  became  aware  of  Spencer's 
existence,  through  a  single  paragraph  quoted  from 


The  Apostle  of  Evolution.  167 

him  by  Lewes,*  and  in  that  paragraph  there  was  im- 
mense fascination.  On  my  first  visit  to  Massachu- 
setts, in  May,  1860,  I  fell  upon  a  copy  of  that  same 
prospectus  of  Spencer's  series,  in  the  Old  Corner 
Bookstore,  in  Boston,  and  read  it  with  exulting  de- 
light, for  clearly  there  was  to  be  such  an  organiza- 
tion of  scientific  doctrine  as  the  world  was  waiting 
for.  When  I  published  the  essay  on  the  Evolution  of. 
Language,  in  1863,  there  were  so  few  people  who  had 
any  conception  of  what  Spencer's  work  meant  that 
they  could  have  been  counted  on  one's  fingers.  At 
tha£  time  I  knew  of  only  four — the  Rev.  John  Lang- 
don  Dudley,  of  Middletown,  a  preacher  of  extraor- 
dinary wisdom  and  power ;  my  old  comrade  and  fel- 
low-student Mr.  George  Litch  Roberts,  of  Boston, 
now  one  of  the  most  eminent  patent  lawyers  in  the 
United  States ;  Mr.  John  Spencer  Clark,  now  of  the 
Prang  Educational  Company ;  and  the  late  Professor 
Gurney,  of  Harvard.  Of  course  there  were  others, 
besides  Youmans  himself,  whose  names  occur  in  the 
foregoing  letter  and  elsewhere  in  this  book.  Some 
of  us  entertained  pretty  decided  opinions  about  Mr. 
Spencer's  workr  When  we  sometimes  ventured  to 
observe  that  it  was  as  great  as  Newton's,  and  that  his 
theory  of  evolution  was  going  to  remodel  human  think- 
ing upon  all  subjects  whatever,  people  used  to  stare  at 
us  and  take  us  for  idiots.  Any  one  member  of  such  a 
small  community  was  easy  to  find  ;  and  I  have  always 
dated  a  new  era  in  my  life  from  the  Sunday  after- 
noon when  Youmans,  escorted  by  Roberts,  came  to 
my  room  in  Cambridge.  It  was  the  beginning  of  a 

*  Lewes,   Comte's   Philosophy   of  the    Sciences,   London,  1853,   pp. 
168-171. 


1 68  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

friendship  such  as  hardly  comes  but  once  to  a  man. 
At  that  first  meeting  I  knew  nothing  of  him  except 
that  he  was  the  author  of  a  text-book  of  chemistry 
which  I  had  found  interesting  in  spite  of  its  having 
been  crammed  down  my  throat  by  an  old-fashioned 
memorizing  teacher  who,  I  am  convinced,  never  really 
knew  so  much  as  the  difference  between  oxygen  and 
-antimony.  At  first  it  was  a  matter  of  breathless  in- 
terest to  talk  with  a  man  who  had  seen  Herbert  Spen- 
cer; but  one  of  the  immediate  results  of  this  inter- 
view was  the  beginning  of  my  own  correspondence 
and  life-long  friendship  with  Mr.  Spencer.  And  from 
that  time  forth  it  always  seemed  as  if,  whenever  any 
of  the  good  or  lovely  things  of  life  came  to  my  lot, 
somehow  or  other  Edward  Youmans  was  either  the 
cause  of  it,  or,  at  any  rate,  intimately  concerned  with 
it.  The  sphere  of  his  unselfish  goodness  was  so  wide 
and  its  quality  so  potent  that  one  could  not  come 
into  near  relations  with  him  without  becoming  in  all 
manner  of  unsuspected  ways  strengthened  and  en- 
riched. 

His  next  letter,  in  which  his  scheme  has  taken  on 
still  more  definite  shape  as  to  the  volume  of  essays,  is 
highly  characteristic  : 

NEW  YORK,  December  14,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  SPENCER  :  Your  favour  of  November  i8th 
reached  me  about  a  week  since.  I  was  very  glad  to  get  it, 
as  it  put  an  end  to  my  suspense  and  settled  at  once  what 
was  to  be  done.  ...  I  like  the  prospect  of  the  volume  of 
selected  essays,  and  am  glad  that  you  agree  to  the  notion 
of  a  new  title.  Either  of  the  titles  you  suggest  might  an- 
swer, but  I  have  thought  that  with  more  time  you  might 
perhaps  improve  them.  I  think  it  important  that  the  term 
"progress"  should  be  incorporated  in  the  title,  but  should 


The  Apostle  of  Evolution.   .  169 

it  be  Illustrations  of  Progress,  or  Phases  of  Progress,  or 
the  like  ?  I  think  there  should  be  a  further  explanatory 
clause.  But  I  am  no  adept  at  these  things,  and  you  are. 
There  is  also  no  hurry  about  it.  You  do  not  name  the 
article  on  The  Philosophy  of  Style,  yet  I  think  it  should  be 
by  all  means  included,  as  it  has  great  value  and  is  much 
admired.  Bancroft  was  to-day  eulogizing  it  to  me  in  very 
high  terms. 

Respecting  your  protest  to  the  New  Englander,  I  think 
it  all-important.  Theologians,  of  all  men,  love  to  throw 
mud — to  use  Tyndall's  phrase — and  the  Comtean  puddle  is 
now  the  favourite.  In  looking  over  the  American  press 
notices  of  your  works  I  find  the  dominant  idea  is  that  you 
belong  to  the  positive  school ;  and  although  not  one  in  a 
hundred  knows  what  Positivism  is,  all  are  agreed  that  it  is 
positively  dreadful.  It  is  desirable  to  stop  this  authorita- 
tively, and  I  should  be  glad  to  have  a  pointed  disclaimer  to 
append  to  the  popular  sketch  of  your  philosophy  for  our 
new  volume.  Excuse  the  suggestion  ;  you  know,  of  course, 
far  better  what  needs  to  be  done  than  I  do.  Respecting 
First  Principles,  I  had  a  conversation  to-day  with  Mr. 
Appleton ;  he  thinks  it  best  to  import  five  hundred  copies 
in  sheets  and  bind  them  here.  I  still  entertain  the  hope 
that  we  shall  be  able  to  get  the  use  of  your  plates  when 
we  can  adopt  a  thoroughly  liberal  policy  toward  the 
press. 

As  respects  what  I  have  done,  I  pray  you  give  yourself 
no  uneasiness.  It  is  but  little  at  any  rate,  and  it  seems  to 
be  my  kind  of  work.  I  greatly  like  it,  and  never  enjoy 
myself  so  well  as  when  occupied  in  promoting  by  some 
measure  the  diffusion  of  valuable  thought.  I  am  an  ultra 
and  thoroughgoing  American.  I  believe  there  is  great 
work  to  be  done  here  for  civilization.  What  we  want  are 
ideas — large,  organizing  ideas — and  I  believe  there  is  no 
other  man  whose  thoughts  are  so  valuable  for  our  needs  as 


17°  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

yours  are.     It  is  pleasant  to  find  myself  less  and  less  alone 
in  my  estimate  of  the  case  and  in  my  efforts. 
Yours  very  truly  and  sincerely, 

E.  L.  YOUMANS. 

"  It  seems  to  be  my  kind  of  work."  Bless  his  dear, 
unselfish,  modest  heart,  how  much  of  Edward  You- 
mans is  summed  up  in  that  unconscious  remark! 
Never  was  anybody's  kind  of  work  more  nobly 
done. 

The  next  letter  from  Mr.  Spencer  answers  the  let- 
ter of  November  23d : 

29  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  W.  C.,  December  77,  1863. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  I  suppose  you  have  before  this 
received  a  letter  which  I  wrote  in  answer  to  your  last,  and 
which  I  directed  to  the  care  of  the  Appletons. 

The  description  you  give  me  of  the  reception  which 
your  philanthropic  proposals  met  with  during  your  tour 
are  highly  encouraging  to  me.  Evidently  the  American 
mind  is  more  plastic  than  the  average  English  mind,  which 
is  so  much  more  restrained  by  institutions  and  traditions. 
The  progress  that  I  make  here,  though  tolerably  sure,  is 
very  slow.  But  the  aspect  of  matters  with  you  compen- 
sates. The  list  of  subscribers  here,  instead  of  increasing, 
has  greatly  decreased  since  the  completion  of  the  first  vol- 
ume; but  the  sale  of  the  first  volume  itself  makes  some 
compensation  for  this.  And,  taking  into  account  the  pros- 
pects your  generous  efforts  have  opened  to  me,  I  feel  tol- 
erably safe  in  pursuing  the  course  I  have  marked  out  for 
myself.  .  .  . 

I  must  really  protest  against  the  amount  of  sacrifice  so 
generously  proposed  to  be  made  by  my  American  friends. 
The  obligations  under  which  you  have  placed  me,  and  to 
which  you  have  lately  been  adding  so  greatly,  it  has  been 
beyond  my  power  to  avoid,  had  I  wished  to  avoid  them ; 


The  Apostle  of  Evolution.  171 

but  the  obligations  foreshadowed  in  your  last  letter  are  in 
part  such  as  I  can  and  must  avoid.  If  my  American 
friends,  moved  by  your  active  efforts,  agree  to  take  upon 
themselves  the  risk  of  republishing  some  of  my  writings — 
a  risk  which  I  dare  not  run  myself — I  cannot  help  it;  and 
while  I  feel  somewhat  uneasy  at  seeing  such  responsibilities 
undertaken,  I  cannot  but  feel  a  considerable  pleasure  in 
finding  so  much  interest  manifested  in  the  success  of  my 
aims.  But  when  it  is  proposed  that  my  friends  should  sup- 
ply Messrs.  Appleton  with  the  stereotype  plates,  and  that  I 
should  begin  to  reap  the  profits  of  the  reprint  from  the 
outset,  as  seems  to  be  implied  by  your  statement  of  the 
arrangement,  I  must  decline  to  agree.  It  is,  I  think,  a 
quite  sufficient  generosity  on  their  part  if  they  save  rne 
from  a  contingent  risk  and  give  me  the  contingent  profit 
after  their  expenses  have  been  paid.  The  twenty  per  cent, 
on  the  sales,  which  the  Appletons  agree  to  give  me,  must 
be  set  aside  for  defraying  the  cost  of  composition  and 
stereotyping,  until  that  cost  has  been  repaid — supposing  this 
twenty  per  cent,  profit  should  suffice  for  the  repayment. 
Only  after  such  repayment  has  been  made  must  the  twenty 
per  cent,  on  the  sales  be  payable  to  me — only  then  will  I 
accept  it.  ...  Perhaps  the  best  title  for  this  proposed  vol- 
ume of  selected  essays  would  be  Illustrations  of  Universal 
Progress.  .  .  . 

Give  my  kind  regards  to  Mrs.  Youmans,  along  with  my 
thanks  for  the  trouble  she  expended  in  copying  your  last 
letter.  Once  more  accept  yourself  my  warm  acknowledg- 
ments for  your  untiring  and  disinterested  labours  in  fur- 
therance of  my  scheme,  and  believe  me, 

Very  truly  yours,  HERBERT  SPENCER. 

NEW  YORK,  January  12,  1864. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  SPENCER:  Yours  of  the  iyth  of  Decem- 
ber, 1863,  is  received,  and  I  regret  exceedingly  that  you  so 
interpret  what  we  are  doing  as  to  be  troubled  with  any 


172  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

sense  of  obligation.  Certainly,  if  the  matter  is  to  be  viewed 
in  the  light  of  debit  and  credit,  the  indebtedness  will  be 
mainly  on  the  side  of  your  friends.  My  chief  purpose 
in  this  affair  was  not  to  raise  funds,  for,  although  the 
publishers  would  not  risk  the  issue  of  the  essays,  I  could 
readily  have  done  so,  as  there  is  really  no  risk  to  run. 
There  will  be  no  difficulty  in  this  volume  at  least  paying 
expenses. 

But  I  wanted  active  co-operation,  and  therefore  took 
steps  to  personally  commit  a  few  gentleman  of  wealth  and 
influence — persons  who  appreciated  and  acted  upon  the 
public  bearings  of  the  case — to  an  interest  in  the  under- 
taking. I  of  course  did  not  hesitate  to  state  that  your 
English  publications  did  not  prove  remunerative,  but  I 
explicitly  disavowed  this  consideration  as  the  motive  of 
my  efforts.  Nevertheless  your  requirement  shall  be  faith- 
fully complied  with,  and,  with  this  assurance,  pray  dis- 
miss all  solicitude  and  leave  us  to  work  out  our  mission, 
using  your  tools  and  paying  as  fairly  as  may  be  for  their 
use.  I  like  the  new  title  very  much.  The  work  is  in 
the  printers'  hands,  and  will  be  finished  in  less  than  a 
month. 

29  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  LONDON,  W.  C.,  January  j,  1864. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  I  did  not  include  the  essay  on 
The  Philosophy  of  Style,  because  it  does  not  in  any  mani- 
fest way  illustrate  evolution.  A  further  reason  for  not 
including  it  is,  that  if  there  should  be  a  second  volume  of 
essays  issued  in  case  the  first  succeeds  it  is  desirable  that 
some  of  the  more  interesting  articles  should  be  reserved 
for  it.  ... 

I  have  not  yet  heard  from  the  two  Cambridge  students 
whom  you  name.  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  do  so;  your 
account  of  them  is  very  encouraging,  and  they  are  evi- 
dently adherents  well  worth  having.  The  article  on  the 
Evolution  of  Language  interested  me  much,  showing,  as  it 


The  Apostle  of  Evolution.  173 

does,  not  only  extensive  information,  but  power  of  inde- 
pendent thought.* 

I  was  pleased  to  find  that  you  agree  with  me  in  think- 
ing it  important  to  disabuse  the  American  public  respecting 
the  imputation  of  Comtism.  I  had  at  first  thought  of  em- 
bodying in  my  letter  to  the  New  Englander  a  general  dis- 
claimer on  behalf  of  the  scientific  thinkers  of  England, 
but  I  concluded  that,  as  the  matter  was  essentially  a  per- 
sonal one,  the  editor  might  object  to  my  entering  on  the 
more  general  question.  Now,  however,  that  you  suggest 
the  addition  of  some  such  remarks  to  my  letters,  with  a 
view  to  general  distribution,  I  willingly  make  them. 

I  embody  them  in  a  paragraph  on  the  next  page  ;  which 
you  may  quote  as  an  extract  from  one  of  my  letters  and 
append  to  the  republished  letters  to  the  New  Englander. 
I  inclose  a  copy  of  the  letter  to  the  New  Englander,  lest 
it  should  not  have  been  published. 

My  father,  who  is  with  me,  joins  me  in  "kind  remem- 
brance to  Mrs.  Youmans  and  yourself. 

Very  sincerely  yours,  HERBERT  SPENCER. 

There  appears  to  have  got  abroad  in  the  United  States 
a  very  erroneous  impression  respecting  the  influence  of 
Comte's  writings  in  England.  I  suppose  that  the  cur- 
rency obtained  by  the  words  "  positivism  "  and  "  positivist  " 
is  to  blame  for  this.  Comte  having  designated  by  the 
term  "  positive  philosophy  "  all  that  body  of  definitely  es- 
tablished knowledge  which  men  of  science  have  been 
gradually  organizing  into  a  coherent  body  of  doctrine, 
and  having  habitually  placed  this  in  opposition  to  the  in- 

*  This  paragraph,  quoted  by  Youmans  in  his  next  letter  to  me,  gave 
me  the  courage  which  had  hitherto  been  lacking  to  write  to  Mr.  Spencer. 
I  did  so  in  February,  1864,  and  received  a  very  prompt  and  cordial  reply. 
It  was  the  beginning  of  my  personal  acquaintance  and  friendship  with  Mr. 
Spencer. 


174  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

coherent  body  of  doctrine  defended  by  theologians,  it  has 
become  the  habit  of  the  theological  party  to  think  of  the 
antagonist  scientific  party  under  this  title  of  positivists, 
applied  to  them  by  Comte.  And  then,  from  the  habit  of 
calling  them  positivists  there  has  grown  up  the  assumption 
that  they  call  themselves  positivists,  and  that  they  are 
disciples  of  Comte.  The  truth  is,  however,  that  Comte  and 
his  doctrines  receive  here  scarcely  any  attention.  I  know 
something  of  the  scientific  world  in  England,  and  I  cannot 
name  a  single  man  of  science  who  acknowledges  himself  a 
follower  of  Comte  or  accepts  the  title  of  positivist.  Lest, 
however,  there  should  be  some  such  who  were  unknown  to 
me,  I  have  recently  made  some  inquiries  into  the  matter. 
To  Prof.  Tyndall  I  put  the  question,  whether  Comte  had 
exercised  any  appreciable  influence  on  his  own  course  of 
thought ;  and  he  replied,  "  So  far  as  I  know,  my  course  of 
thought  would  have  been  exactly  the  same  had  Comte 
never  existed:"  I  then  put  the  further  question,  "  Do  you 
know  any  man  of  science  whose  views  have  been  affected 
by  Comte's  writings  ?  "  and  his  answer  was,  "  The  influence 
of  Comte  on  scientific  thought  in  England  is  absolutely 
#//."  I  put  the  same  two  questions  to  Prof.  Huxley,  and 
received,  in  other  words,  just  the  same  answers.  And 
Prof.  Huxley  pointed  out  to  me  passages  in  his  own  writ- 
ings in  which  he  spoke  of  Comte  in  language  almost  con- 
temptuous. Prof.  Huxley  and  Tyndall,  being  leaders  in 
their  respective  departments,  and  being  also  men  of  gen- 
eral culture  and  philosophic  insight,  I  think  that,  joining 
their  impressions  with  my  own,  I  am  justified  in  saying 
that  the  scientific  world  of  England  is  wholly  uninfluenced 
by  Comte.  Such  small  influence  as  Comte  has  had  here 
has  been  on  some  literary  men  and  historians — men  who 
were  attracted  by  the  grand  achievements  of  science,  who 
were  charmed  by  the  plausible  system  of  scientific  gen- 
eralizations put  forth  by  Comte,  with  the  usual  French 


The  Apostle  of  Evolution.  175 

regard  for  symmetry  and  disregard  for  fact,  and  who  were, 
from  their  want  of  scientific  training,  unable  to  detect  the 
essential  fallaciousness  of  his  system.  Of  these,  the  most 
notable  example  was  the  late  Mr.  Buckle.  Besides  him,  I 
can  name  but  seven  men  who  have  been,  in  any  appreciable 
degree,  influenced  by  Comte ;  and  of  them,  four,  if  not 
five,  are  scarcely  known  to  the  public. 

29  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  W.  C.,  March  26,  1864. 
MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  Thanks  for  the  two  letters  which 
I  have  received  since  I  wrote  last.  Probably  you  have 
been  somewhat  surprised  at  not  receiving  an  answer  before 
now ;  but  I  have  been  for  the  last  six  weeks  wholly  ab- 
sorbed in  writing  a  pamphlet  on  The  Classification  of  the 
Sciences,  with  an  appendix  repudiating  the  philosophy  of 
Comte.  An  article  on  First  Principles,  in  the  Revue  des 
Deux  Mondes  for  February  15,  which  speaks  of  me  as  be- 
longing to  the  "  positive  "  school,  has  led  me  to  take  this 
step,  and  I  have  postponed  everything  else  until  this 
needful  work  was  done.  The  pamphlet  will  be  published 
here  in  a  few  days.  I  am  having  papier-mache"  impressions 
taken  from  the  type,  which  I  will  send  to  you  by  the  next 
steamer,  so  that  you  will  be  able  to  cast  stereotype  plates 
and  print  at  once.  I  think  an  extensive  distribution  of  this 
pamphlet  in  the  United  States  will  be  desirable. 

NEW  YORK,  April  12,  1864. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  SPENCER  :  After  more  delay  than  I  an- 
ticipated our  new  book  is  published  and  presents  a  very 
satisfactory  appearance.  I  have  taken  the  liberty,  as  you 
will  see,  of  making  some  changes,  which  seemed  demanded 
by  circumstances.  Besides  putting  headings  over  alternate 
pages,  I  have  broken  up  some  of  your  larger  paragraphs, 
so  as  to  lighten  the  pages  and  render  them  more  attractive 
to  miscellaneous  readers.  It  was  not  easy  to  find  points  of 
cleavage,  so  closely  runs  the  thought,  but  I  tried  to  violate 


176  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

the  continuities  as  little  as  possible.  I  give  the  volume  the 
subtitle  of  A  Series  of  Discussions,  in  order  to  avoid  the 
word  "  essays  "  on  the  title-page  and  thus  preserve  the  in- 
dividualities of  the  separate  works.  I  have  prefixed  to  the 
volume  a  notice  of  your  philosophical  system  more  credit- 
able, I  trust,  than  the  hastily  written  pages  I  sent  you. 

First  Principles  is  nearly  ready,  and  is  to  be  published 
as  soon  as  the  present  volume  is  fairly  out  of  the  way. 

Your  remaining  essays  are  now  in  press,  and  will  be  pub- 
lished as  soon  as  First  Principles  is  off  the  track.  As  the 
original  title  is  now  unsuitable,  I  have  made  it  Essays: 
Moral,  Political,  and  ^Esthetic,  the  latter  term  being  justi- 
fied by  the  three  papers  on  Style,  Personal  Beauty,  and 
Gracefulness.  We  have  concluded,  furthermore,  to  follow 
the  publication  of  the  Essays  by  that  of  Social  Statics,  and 
thus  complete  the  American  series  of  your  works,  a  large 
copyright  being  allowed  on  the  whole. 

I  think  you  once  remarked  to  me  that  certain  of  your 
views  had  been  considerably  modified  since  the  publication 
of  Social  Statics ;  but  as  you  intimated  that  the  change 
consisted  in  a  divergence  from  the  democratic  views  there 
expressed,  the  volume  may  be  more  acceptable  to  us  in  its 
present  form  than  it  would  be  after  your  revision.  You 
will  hence  see  the  propriety  of  a  republication  here,  when 
you  might  not  choose  to  have  it  reissued  in  England.  I 
think  it  is  especially  the  book  we  need  at  the  present  time, 
and  may  do  important  service. 

I  have  sent  you  a  notice  of  the  Progress  I  prepared  for 
the  Tribune.  It  is  not  what  it  ought  to  be.  I  am  thorough- 
ly sensible  of  my  incompetency  to  do  you  justice,  but  it  is 
better  than  I  could  get  done  by  anybody  else.  The  best 
thing  about  it  is  that  it  enables  you  to  speak  for  yourself. 
I,  however,  take  some  little  credit  to  myself  for  managing 
its  publication.  The  Tribune  is  the  most  influential  journal 
in  this  country.  I  long  ago  saw  its  importance  in  regard  to 


The  Apostle  of  Evolution.  177 

our  enterprise,  and  acted  accordingly.  The  literary  editor, 
Mr.  Ripley,  is  a  fine  scholar,  but  a  Unitarian  clergyman  to 
begin  with,  and  classical  to  the  core,  and  infected  with  Ger- 
man metaphysics — an  unpromising  subject  certainly,  and, 
most  of  all,  pointedly  and  publicly  committed  against  the 
new  views  of  Herbert  Spencer.  The  notice  of  the  Educa- 
tion, I  must  confess,  was  fairly  battled  into  the  Tribune 
through  friend  Greeley's  influence,  Mr.  Ripley  vehemently 
protesting  against  this  new  evangel  of  education.  He  had 
not  read  it,  and  would  not  look  at  it.  But  an  old  copy  of 
your  Essays  (found  in  Beecher's  library,  when  he  went  to 
Europe,  with  the  margins  of  the  pages  written  full  of  notes) 
fell  into  his  hands,  arrested  his  attention,  and  changed  the 
current  of  his  opinion.  Since  that  time  his  views  have  been 
gradually  modifying,*  and  the  upshot  of  the  matter  is,  that 
I  have  been  able  to  get  the  long  notice  in  all  the  editions  of 
the  Tribune  (a  copy  of  each  of  which  I  send  you),  the 
daily  having  a  circulation  of  400,000,  the  semiweekly  of 
30,000,  and  the  weekly  of  160,000.  Advertising  in  the  latter 
is  one  dollar  per  line,  the  market  value  of  the  space  allowed 
me  being  $960.  Considering  that  the  Tribune  circulates 
mainly  among  that  class  which  it  is  important  to  reach,  and 
is  moreover  of  great  influence  with  other  newspapers,  this 
gain  is  a  telling  one.  I  published  the  notice  in  the  daily 
the  very  day  the  work  was  advertised. 

I  send  you  the  New  York  Observer,  the  most  bigoted  of 
our  religious  journals.  The  criticism  is  surprisingly  mild, 
the  editor  having  evidently  read  only  the  introductory  no- 
tice, which  I  aimed  to  make  a  sort  of  religious  breakwater 
to  protect  First  Principles  from  the  rush  of  the  pious  flood. 
The  Independent  is  the  most  largely  circulated  and  influen- 
tial religious  journal  in  the  country,  having  six  or  eight 
thousand  clergymen  on  its  subscription  lists.  I  have 

*  In  course  of  time  Mr.  Ripley  became  an  unqualified  adherent  of  Mr. 
Spencer's  philosophy. 


178  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

written  a  notice  for  it,  which  will  appear  next  week.  Prof. 
Gibbs  has  promised  me  a  notice  in  Silliman's  Journal  and 
Mr.  Quincy  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly.  I  am  making  interest 
also  in  several  other  quarters,  so  you  see  things  are  slowly 
moving  along. 

As  for  myself,  I  am  not  at  all  well.  I  had  a  week  or  two 
ago  an  attack  of  neuralgia  of  the  chest,  accompanied  with 
high  fever  and  other  distressing  symptoms,  and  since  that 
time  have  been  troubled  with  dizziness  and  loss  of  ordinary 
strength.  As  my  work  in  town  is  nearly  done,  I  shall 
leave  for  Saratoga  in  a  few  days,  hoping  to  recover  my 
wonted  tone  by  exercise  in  the  bracing  country  air.  The 
prospect  of  getting  to  England  soon  is  not  very  encourag- 
ing, as  the  rate  of  exchange  is  frightfully  high. 

The  last  number  of  Biology  delights  me,  as  did  all  its 
predecessors.  We  must  issue  it  as  soon  as  our  volume  is 
completed,  and  you  had  better  keep  duplicate  plates  of  the 
remainder.  .  .  . 

As  regards  the  obstacles  in  the  way  of  our  going  to 
England,  I  am  rather  glad  of  it,  for  though  I  should  like 
greatly  to  avail  myself  of  the  intellectual  advantages  of  the 
London  season,  yet  I  am  well  content  to  forego  them  if  I 
can  accomplish  the  important  work  with  which  I  am  occu- 
pied. I  am  certain  that  I  can  in  no  way  so  effectively  pro- 
mote the  true  interests  of  the  American  people  as  by  bring- 
ing these  works  before  them  and  urging  public  opinion  to 
them  at  the  present  time.  The  effects  of  the  war  are  far 
more  profound  than  is  generally  realized.  Whatever  be  the 
political  results,  there  is  a  mental  emancipation  to  which 
this  generation  has  been  a  stranger.  The  great  slave  sys- 
tem, intrenched  in  conservatism,  and  the  natural  ally  of 
everything  old,  superstitious,  arbitrary,  and  barbarous — the 
sworn  foe  of  all  liberty  of  thought  and  expression,  all  re- 
form and  progress,  and  ruling  us  first  through  the  Govern- 
ment, and  then,  by  a  thousand  pressures,  commercially,  for 


T/te  Apostle  of  Evolution.  179 

the  South  was  our  great  customer — this  system  had  well- 
nigh  paralyzed  the  mind  of  the  nation.  But  the  war  has 
broken  the  spell.  I  have  never  before  known  such  boldness 
of  inquiry  and  demand  for  first  principles.  If  the  slave  sys- 
tem is  broken  up  in  this  convulsion,  the  mind  of  the  country 
will  be  far  freer  than  ever  before ;  if  not,  I  see  no  escape 
from  utter  mental  re-enslavement.  If  the  slave  power  has 
the  vitality  to  maintain  itself  through  the  shocks  of  this 
war  and  achieve  its  aim,  it  will  be  regnant  in  the  future;  it 
will  be  dominant  over  the  continent,  and  make  fight  with 
the  course  of  civilization,  Heaven  only  knows  how  long! 
But  be  that  as  it  may,  now  is  the  time  for  action,  and  I 
have  striven  my  utmost  to  make  it  available.  I  shall 
strongly  hope  that  events  will  so  shape  themselves  that  I 
may  be  in  London  next  winter. 

29  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  W.  C.,  May  18,  1864. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  Accept  my  thanks  both  for  the 
Progress  and  for  the  copy  of  your  own  Chemistry,  which 
you  have  been  so  kind  as  to  send  me.  I  have  as  yet  had 
little  time  to  dip  into  it,  but  I  am  struck  with  the  immense 
amount  of  matter  you  have  contrived  to  put  into  a  small 
space,  and  als^>  with  the  very  great  clearness  of  statement. 
It  seems  to  me  admirably  adapted  to  serve  its  purpose  as  a 
class-book.  I  expect  to  find  it  useful  for  ready  reference; 
and  have,  indeed,  already  done  so  on  one  point  I  had  for- 
gotten. 

As  to  the  Progress,  it  looks  very  well,  and  is  evidently 
more  fitted  to  be  popular  than  it  was  in  its  original  form. 
You  must  have  bestowed  an  immensity  of  trouble  upon  it, 
in  putting  the  headings  to  the  pages  and  dividing  the  para- 
graphs, as  well  as  in  correcting  the  press.  Indeed,  in  this, 
as  all  along,  you  amaze  me  by  the  amount  of  labour  you 
expend  in  furthering  my  undertaking.  I  cannot  but  feel 
somewhat  oppressed  by  the  consciousness  of  it,  since  the 
disturbance  of  health  which  you  describe  can  hardly  fail  to 


180  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

have  been  either  produced  by  overapplication  or  made 
worse  "by  it.  Pray  be  a  little  more  economical  of  yourself. 
Even  with  a  view  to  the  most  efficient  propagation  of  the 
ideas  in  which  you  are  interested,  it  is  needful  that  you 
should  be  more  moderate  in  your  exertions.  A  breakdown 
in  health  entails  more  loss  of  time  than  all  those  minor 
losses  that  may  result  from  taking  work  somewhat  more 
easily.  My  own  case  may  serve  you  as  a  demonstration. 

You  say,  "  So  you  see  things  are  slowly  moving  along." 
It  seems  to  me  rather  that  they  are  moving  along  with 
great  rapidity.  If  I  could  describe  them  as  moving  with  an 
equal  "slowness"  on  this  side  the  water  I  should  be  quite 
satisfied.  The  rapidity  with  which  you  are  proposing  to 
bring  out  the  successive  reprints  is  indeed  rather  startling 
to  me,  since  I  had  understood  that  the  results  of  the  pub- 
lication of  this  first  volume  were  to  determine  the  steps  to 
be  taken  with  respect  to  the  others.  I  hope  I  may  ration- 
ally infer  that  the  promptitude  with  which  the  others  are  to 
be  brought  out  is  an  indication  that  the  prospects  are  good. 
It  may  indeed  be  not  a  bad  policy  to  bring  out  the  volumes 
in  rapid  succession.  The  result  will  no  doubt  be  to  keep 
up  and  deepen  the  interest  more  decidedly  than  a  slow  suc- 
cession would  do. 

I  was  amused  and  pleased  with  your  skilful  generalship 
with  respect  to  the  criticism  in  the  Tribune,  especially  as 
the  diminished  antagonism  of  the  literary  editor  has  been 
one  of  its  accompaniments. 

Respecting  Social  Statics,  I  gave  you  a  somewhat  wrong 
impression  if  you  gathered  from  me  that  I  had  receded  from 
any  of  its  main  principles.  The  parts  which  I  had  in  view 
when  I  spoke  of  having  modified  my  opinions  on  some 
points  were  chiefly  the  chapters  on  the  rights  of  women  and 
children.  I  should  probably  also  somewhat  qualify  the 
theological  form  of  expression  used  in  some  of  the  earlier 
chapters.  But  the  essentials  of  the  book  would  remain  as 


The  Apostle  of  Evolution.  181 

they  are.  When  you  come  to  the  reprinting  of  Social 
Statics,  should  that -project  be  persevered  in,  I  should  like 
to  put  a  brief  prefatory  note  stating  my  present  attitude 
toward  it. 

In  the  essay  on  Classification  of  the  Sciences  which  I 
sent  you  there  is  a  new  generalization  respecting  the  ulti- 
mate conditions  to  evolution  and  dissolution.  The  arrival 
at  this  has  led  me  to  see  that  the  second  part  of  First  Prin- 
ciples is  by  no  means  complete  in  its  organization,  and  the 
result  is  that  I  have  some  thought  of  reorganizing  it.  If 
my  intention  does  not  change  I  may  probably  set  about 
doing  this  as  soon  as  I  have  completed  the  first  volume  of 
the  Biology.  Part  XI  will  be  out  in  the  course  of  next 
week,  and  Part  .XII,  completing  the  volumes,  I  shall 
probably  get  finished  early  in  the  autumn.  If  this  should 
be  so,  and  if  I  should  then  commence  remodelling  the 
second  part  of  First  Principles,  it  may  be  that  by  the  end 
of  the  year  I  shall  want  the  stereotype  plates  back.  This, 
however,  is  problematical ;  for  if  I  take  this  step,  I  shall 
not  take  it  until  the  existing  stock  of  First  Principles  is 
sold  off,  which  it  may  not  be  at  that  time. 

I  greatly  regret  that  you  have  had  to  abandon  your 
project  of  coming  to  England  for  the  present.  The  ruinous 
rate  of  exchange  is  a  very  sufficient  reason.  Let  us  hope 
that  this  obstacle  may  very  soon  disappear.  With  wishes 
that  you  are  by  this  time  quite  well  again,  and  with  kind 
regards  and  thanks  to  Mrs.  Youmans, 

Believe  me,  very  sincerely  yours, 

HERBERT  SPENCER. 

29  BLOOMSBURY  SQUARE,  LONDON,  June  8,  1864. 
MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  When  I  wrote  to  you  last  I  be- 
lieve I  had  not  read  the  new  introductory  notice  you  have 
written  for  the  volume  of  the  Essays  on  Progress.  Had  I 
done  so,  I  should  have  expressed  to  you  my  indebtedness 
for  the  very  admirable  and  judicious  way  in  which  you 


1 82  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

have  presented  the  leading  points  of  the  system.  The 
theological  aspect  especially  you  have'presented  in  such  a 
way  as  is  very  well  calculated  to  serve  the  purpose  you 
had  in  view — to  act  as  a  breakwater  against  the  sectarian 
storm.  No  doubt  the  favourable  reception  given  to  the 
book  by  some  of  the  theological  journals  has  been  in 
great  part  due  to  this.  .  .  . 

I  have  quite  decided  on  making  the  reorganization  of 
the  second  part  of  First  Principles.  The  further  develop- 
ment which  will  be  given  to  the  doctrine  is  too  important 
to  let  it  stand  over.  .  .  . 

I  find  good  reason  to  be  glad  that  I  have  published  a 
distinct  repudiation  of  Comtism,  for  the  impression  that  I 
am  a  Comtist  was  far  more  widely  spread  than  I  had  sup- 
posed. One  of  the  reviewers  of  the  pamphlet  says:  "By 
this  publication  Mr.  Spencer  has  completely  removed  the 
impression  that  he  was  a  mere  slavish  adherent  of  Comte  !  " 
My  estimate  of  the  average  intelligence  has  never  been 
very  high,  but  really  the  degree  of  stupidity  implied  by 
such  a  remark  exceeds  even  my  anticipation.*  The  preva- 
lence of  such  perverse  interpretations  makes  me  feel,  even 
more  than  before,  how  desirable  it  is  that  the  pamphlet 
should  be  extensively  circulated  in  the  United  States. 

I  am  inclined  hereafter  to  follow  your  advice  respecting 
the  amounts  due  from  the  Appletons,  and,  instead  of  having 
them  remitted  here,  invest  them  in  America — perhaps  in 
railway  stock,  of  which  I  already  hold  a  little.  I  name  this 
now  not  with  a  view  of  making  any  immediate  decision, 
but  lest  I  should  forget  to  name  it  before  the  next  account 
becomes  due. 

*  For  it  was  really  very  much  as  if  one  had  said  :  "  Mr.  Theodore 
Parker  has  completely  removed  the  impression  that  he  was  a  mere  slavish 
adherent  of  Jonathan  Edwards  !  "  It  would  be  difficult  to  find  in  all  the 
history  of  philosophy  a  more  intense  and  radical  antagonism  than  that  be- 
tween Spencer  and  Comte. 


The  Apostle  of  Evolution.  183 

88  KENSINGTON  GARDENS  SQUARE,  LONDON,  W.,  October  14,  1864. 

.  .  .  The  batch  of  opinions  of  the  press  which  Mrs. 
Youmans  was  so  kind  as  to  collect  for  me,  and  the  accom- 
panying letter,  in  which  she  was  at  so  much  trouble  in 
giving  me  accounts  of  their  writers,  &c.,  reached  me  while 
in  Scotland.  The  receipt  of  them  formed  a  very  pleasant 
little  episode  in  my  Highland  life — calling  me  back  to 
things  which  were  for  the  time  wholly  out  of  my  thoughts; 
for  when  with  my  friends  at  Ardtonish,  occupied  with  vari- 
ous sports  and  amusements,  I  get  wholly  absorbed  in  sur- 
rounding things — forgetting  all  about  philosophy  and  the 
writing  of  books.  I  have  to  thank  Mrs.  Youmans  for  re- 
minding me  of  them  in  so  agreeable  a  way. 

I  have  but  little  to  report  respecting  the  progress  of 
things  here.  Your  American  style  of  doing  things  makes 
me  somewhat  dissatisfied  with  the  very  small  results 
achieved  in  England.  The  most  hopeful  fact  is  that  !• 
gain  the  suffrages  of  all  the  most  highly  cultivated  men ; 
and  I  suppose  that  the  suffrages  of  a  wider  public  will 
follow  in  due  time.  I  am  very  glad  that  I  published  when 
I  did  the  essay  on  the  Classification  of  the  Sciences, 
for  I  was  surprised  to  find  how  widely  there  was  spread 
the  erroneous  impression  that  I  was  an  adherent  of 
Comte.  I  hope  the  pamphlet  has  been  well  circulated  with 
you. 

Thanks  for  the  photograph  of  Mr.  Fiske  which  you  sent 
me.  Do  you  know  who  is  the  author  of  the  article  on  A 
Physical  Theory  of  the  Universe  (or  some  such  title)  in  the 
July  number  of  the  North  American  Review  ?  I  suppose  it 
is  one  of  your  astronomers. 

The  article  in  question  was  by  Chauncey  Wright, 
containing  a  discussion  of  the  nebular  and  meteoric 
theories  of  stellar  evolution.  It  betrayed  a  misunder- 
standing of  the  general  principles  of  evolution,  which 


1 84  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

called  forth  a  very  able  criticism  by  George  Roberts, 
to  which  Spencer  thus  refers : 

Thanks  for  the  further  press  notices  which  you  sent  me 
along  with  the  Boston  Evening  Transcript.  I  presume 
from  the  initials  that  the  letter  is  by  Mr.  Roberts.  I  read 
it  with  much  pleasure,  and  thought  it  extremely  well  done. 
The  replies  are  very  much  the  same  as  I  should  have  made 
myself,  the  only  further  way  in  which  I  might  have  en- 
forced the  reply  being  by  referring  to  the  chapter  on  The 
Rhythm  of  Motion  as  being  an  elaborate  statement  of  that 
"  principle  of  countermovements  "  on  which  the  reviewer 
insists.  When  you  write  to  Mr.  Roberts  pray  convey  to 
him  my  thanks  for  his  very  efficient  defence. 

The  following  sentence,  coming  soon  after,  in  an 
acknowledgment  of  the  publishers'  accounts,  illus- 
.trates  one  of  Youmans's  inveterate  habits.  I  believe 
one  of  his  chief  delights  in  buying  books  was  to  have 
them  to  give  away  : 

I  see  in  the  account  the  item,  "  seven  copies  of  the 
Essays  sold  to  Professor  Youmans."  Surely  you  have  not 
been  throwing  away  your  money  on  my  books  to  give  away  ! 
If  there  are  any  presentation  copies  which  you  think  it  well 
to  give,  pray  always  order  the  Appletons  to  send  them,  and 
debit  me  with  them. 

I  cannot  close  this  chapter  more  appropriately 
than  with  an  incident  clipped  from  a  letter  of  Christ- 
mas, 1864:  "Henry  Carey  called  in  to  blow  up  the 
Appletons  for  publishing  Spencer's  British  free-trade 
doctrines.  Spencer  was  an  upstart ;  his  system  would 
soon  die,  like  Comte's  and  Mill's.  Said  W.  H.  Ap- 
pleton,  '  I  can  tell  you  one  thing— Spencer  won't  die 
as  long  as  Youmans  lives  ! ' ' 


CHAPTER   X. 

SECOND   AND   THIRD   VISITS   TO   ENGLAND. 
1865-1866.     Age,  44-45- 

MR.  YOUMANS  sailed  from  Portland,  with  his  wife 
and  sister,  on  April  15,  1865,  the  day  when  strong  men 
were  crying  on  the  streets  and  utter  strangers  wrung 
one  another's  hands  in  grief  over  the  dreadful  news  of 
the  murder  of  President  Lincoln.  The  voyage  was 
dismal  enough.  There  were  no  other  Americans  on 
board,  and  nobody  had  a  good  word  or  a  good  wish 
for  the  United  States.  The  captain,  in  the  hope  of 
being  the  first  to  reach  England  with  the  news,  made 
all  haste.  From  Liverpool  the  party  proceeded  with- 
out delay  to  London,  where  Youmans  at  once  en- 
tered upon  the  work  entrusted  to  him  by  the  Apple- 
tons,  of  arranging  with  divers  authors  for  the  republi- 
cation  of  their  works  in  America.  Incidentally  he 
took  note  of  British  progress  in  scientific  education, 
and  projected  a  book  which  should  have  value  as  a 
criticism  of  tendencies  much  stronger  then  than  now 
in  American  educational  policy.  He  intended  to  show 
that  university  education  in  England  had  been  de- 
veloped as  the  natural  concomitant  of  an  aristocratic 
Government,  swayed  by  adherence  to  old  traditions 
and  by  respect  for  social  rank  quite  as  much  as  for 
merit.  He  held  that  this  system  of  education,  as 
brought  over  to  America  and  long  established  here, 

9  (185) 


1 86  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

was  unsuited  to  the  needs  of  our  people ;  and  that  in 
so  far  as  our  universities  gave  direction  to  general 
education,  the  influence  of  "  classicism  "  was  extremely 
injurious.  His  design,  pretty  fully  sketched,  was 
never  completed,  but  he  afterward  made  much  edi- 
torial use  of  facts  and  arguments  gathered  with  refer- 
ence to  it. 

In  the  course  of  the  summer  the  party  made  a 
journey  to  Switzerland.  I  give  a  few  extracts  from 
the  correspondence  of  the  spring  and  summer.  Miss 
Youmans  was  at  that  time  in  rather  poor  health. 

LONDON,  May  20,  1865. 

DEAR  FRIENDS  :  I  yesterday  morning  breakfasted  with 
Mr.  Forster,  M.  P.,  the  great  champion  of  America.  I  had 
a  note  to  him  from  Minister  Adams.  I  am  having  the  op- 
portunity I  have  so  long  desired  of  informing  myself  upon 
educational  facts,  points,  and  questions,  and  I  think  I 
shall  profit  by  it.  I  was  yesterday  present  in  a  committee 
room  of  the  House  of  Commons,  or  rather  Westminster 
Hall,  in  which  both  Commons  and  Peers  came  to  witness 
the  examination  of  Archdeacon  Dickinson,  who  appeared  in 
behalf  of  the  High  Church  to  oppose  the  new  "  conscience 
clause,"  as  it  is  termed,  which  it  is  proposed  to  introduce 
into  the  school  management.  The  national  schools  are  in 
charge  of  the  Church,  superintended  by  the  clergy,  and  no 
child  is  permitted  to  enter  them  unless  he  has  been  first 
baptized  by  a  Church  clergyman,  and  attends  the  Church 
and  Church  Sunday-school.  The  "conscience  clause"  pro- 
poses to  abolish  this,  and  let  dissenters'  children  in  with- 
out requiring  this  of  them.  The  archdeacon  opposed  this 
to  the  bitter  end:  it  was  dangerous  and  wicked;  there  was 
only  one  Church,  the  Episcopal,  and  therefore  but  one  re- 
ligion, and  the  business  of  all  education  is  to  teach  religion. 
It  was  curious  and  highly  interesting. 


Second  and  Third  Visits  to  England,  187 


LONDON,  June  7, 

DEAR  BROTHER  :  We  continue  in  our  place  still,  but 
with  no  immediate  prospect  of  change.  The  weather  is 
exceedingly  cool  and  refreshing.  We  went  to  the  Borough 
Road  Training  School  this  morning  directly  after  break- 
fast, which  occurs  at  9  A.  M.  It  is  almost  three  miles.  The 
omnibus  took  us  from  door  to  door.  Staying  there  two  or 
three  hours,  we  came  back  to  the  Jermyn  Street  School  of 
Mines  and  heard  Tyndall's  lecture  on  Spectrum  Analysis, 
which  closed  at  half-past  three.  Having  had  tickets  pre- 
sented us  to  the  gardens  of  the  Royal  Botanical  Society, 
in  Regent's  Park,  we  took  a  cab  from  the  lecture  directly 
to  that  place.  .  .  . 

We  made  an  excursion  to  Kew  three  or  four  days  ago. 
Kew  is  about  eight  miles  by  rail  from  Charing  Cross.  It  is 
an  old  royal  park  converted  into  extensive  gardens,  and  is 
the  great  botanical  establishment  of  Europe.  We  left 
home  at  ten  and  a  half,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Spencer,  took 
a  cab  for  the  Hungerford  Bridge  over  the  Thames,  and  a 
boat  from  there  to  Chelsea  for  "tuppence."  (Tuppence  and 
tuppence  ha'penny  are  great  institutions  here.)  At  Chelsea 
we  changed  boats  and  navigated  the  crooked  river  up  to 
Kew.  The  boats  are  abominable  little  black  things  with 
no  covers,  close  crowded,  and  most  disagreeable.  We 
lunched  at  Kew,  under  a  shed,  on  cold  ham,  cold  beef, 
bread  and  butter,  with  salad.  Eliza  had  to  travel  slowly 
over  the  extensive  grounds,  but  there  were  frequent  seats. 
The  immense  park  is  filled  with  venerable  and  magnificent 
trees,  and  is  traversed  by  broad  gravelly  walks,  straight, 
crossed,  and  curving  around.  Numberless  plants  and  shrubs 
and  countless  groups,  beds,  banks,  and  borders  of  flowers 
are  everywhere.  And  then  through  the  grounds  are  dis- 
tributed plant  houses,  heated  for  the  reception  of  tropical 
plants,  aquatics,  and  various  collections  too  numerous  to 
mention  and  far  too  numerous  to  see.  We  returned  by 


1 88  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

rail  at  exactly  dinner  time,  half  past  six.  Kew  Gardens 
were  founded  and  have  grown  up  under  the  care  and  con- 
trol of  Sir  William  Hooker.  His  son,  Dr.  Joseph  Hooker, 
is  now  the  active  man  and  lives  on  the  spot.  He  married 
the  daughter  of  Rev.  John  Henslow,  Professor  of  Botany 
in  Cambridge.  Prof.  Henslow  was  a  very  able  man,  and 
his  hobby  was  popularizing  botany  and  introducing  it  into 
the  very  lowest  schools.  He  devised  a  method  for  this,  and 
tried  it  in  the  parish  schools  with  great  success.  He  pre- 
pared a  plan,  a  regular  philosophic  system,  but  did  not 
publish  it  before  his  premature  death.  His  son,  Rev. 
George  Henslow,  made  over  the  manuscripts  to  Prof. 
Oliver,  of  the  London  University,  who  has  lately  published 
them  in  the  shape  of  a  small  volume,  which  Eliza  got  yes- 
terday. George  Henslow  has  inherited  his  father's  reputa- 
tion as  a  botanist,  with  his  system  and  all  appurtenances. 
He  teaches  a  grammar  school  in  South  Crescent,  about  ten 
minutes'  walk  from  here,  and  also  takes  private  pupils  in 
botany.  Eliza  is  going  to  take  some  lessons  of  him.  He 
has  explained  to  her  his  method,  which  pleases  her.  She 
will  begin  day  after  to-morrow.  If  her  strength  holds  out 
she  will  probably  Americanize  Henslow's  method  and  re- 
produce his  text-book.  It  has  certain  very  important  ele- 
ments for  educational  purposes. 

LUCERNE,  SWITZERLAND,  August  16,  1863. 
DEAR  FATHER* AND  MOTHER:  Presuming  that  before 
this  reaches  you  Jay  will  have  left  the  United  States,  I 
address  this  to  you,  and  will  try  to  make  it  so  legible  that 
you  can  easily  read  it.  We  left  London  a  week  ago 
yesterday,  and  have  travelled  through  France,  Belgium, 
Prussia,  and  Bavaria,  and  are  now  in  Switzerland — a  pretty 
good  week's  work  for  invalids.  We  crossed  the  Channel 
without  difficulty.  Eliza  expected  to  be  horribly  seasick 
and  dreaded  the  trip,  but  went  to  sleep  and  was  there  be- 
fore she  knew  it.  We  stopped  the  first  night  in  Brussels, 


Second  and  Third  Visits  to  England.  189 

the  next  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  the  next  at  Cologne,  Friday 
night  at  Heidelberg,  Saturday  night  at  Strasburg,  Sunday 
night  at  Basel,  and  Monday  and  Tuesday  nights  at  Zurich, 
from  which  place  we  came  this  morning.  We  have  visited 
the  chief  objects  of  interest  and  curiosity  in  each  of  these 
places,  and  Eliza  has  stood  it  remarkably  well — much  better 
than  I  should  have  thought  she  could.  Of  course  she  gets 
tired,  and  when  tired,  like  her  mother,  myself,  and  the 
human  family  generally,  frets  a  little,  but  that  is  nothing. 
I  think  she  is  enjoying  her  Continental  experience,  and  that 
it  will  prove  extremely  profitable  to  her.  We  found  her 
old  teacher  and  my  old  friend  Prof.  Wislicenus,  and  had 
a  very  delightful  visit  with  him  and  his  family.  We  are 
now  fairly  among  the  Alps,  and  are  experiencing  the  un- 
certain and  changeable  weather  which  belongs  to  this 
region.  An  hour  ago  we  were  admiring  the  magnificent 
ranges  of  mountains,  which  raised  their  numberless  peaks 
all  around  in  front  of  us,  the  beautiful  lake  intervening 
between  ;  now  all  is  hidden  from  view  by  enveloping  clouds, 
and  there  is  a  drenching  rain.  We  expect  to  leave  here  to- 
morrow morning,  having,  with  a  party  of  three  English 
people,  engaged  a  private  carriage  to  take  us  to  Meiringen. 
There  we  shall  take  mules  and  cross  a  mountain  which 
abounds  in  fine  views,  and,  after  passing  through  the  most 
interesting  portion  of  the  country,  return  to  England  per- 
haps early  in  September.  Kitty  is  very  well — looking  ex- 
tremely well,  and  in  excellent  spirits.  Eliza  is  picking  the 
coloured  spots  or  little  figures  out  of  one  of  her  silk  dresses, 
and  is  actually  getting  up  a  little  bit  of  a  sing.  I  am  to 
have  our  letters  sent  to  Geneva,  where  I  expect  to  meet 
them  next  Monday  or  Tuesday.  The  boat  is  just  return- 
ing, bringing  the  excursionists  from  their  trip  over  Lake 
Lucerne,  with  a  band  of  music  in  full  blast — a  jolly  lot 
altogether.*  I  cannot  go  into  any  particulars  of  our  jour- 
neyings  and  experiences,  but  will  reserve  that  till  our  re- 


190  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

turn,  in  October.  I  hope  this  will  find  you  well.  Don't 
overwork  ;  old  people  generally  kill  themselves  by  expo- 
sure. Not  that  you  are  very  old,  but  ought  to  be  old 
enough  to  take  care  of  yourselves. 


LONDON,  Augttstjo, 
DEAR  FATHER  AND  MOTHER  :  We  returned  yesterday 
from  the  Continent.  In  the  whirl  and  haste  of  our  tour  I 
have  quite  forgotten  from  what  point  I  wrote  you  last.  I 
have,  however,  sent  but  one  letter  from  the  other  side  of 
the  Channel.  I  think  we  were  just  entering  Switzerland. 
Well,  we  went  through  that  remarkably  hilly  country  and 
saw  a  great  deal  of  it.  The  peculiarity  of  Switzerland  is 
this:  you  thread  your  way  through  long  narrow  valleys  at 
a  rapid  rate  on  the  finest  roads  that  are  found  in  the  world, 
with  the  mountains  rising  on  each  side  of  you  all  along, 
from  5,000  to  14,000  feet  high.  Many  of  them  are  snow- 
clad  —  the  highest  —  but  the  more  common  ranges  are  not. 
The  Swiss  live  in  these  valleys  in  their  little  cottages,  some 
of  them  part  way  up  the  sides  of  the  mountains,  and  in 
consequence  of  the  stagnation  of  air  they  are  often  very 
unhealthy.  Sometimes  it  is  desirable  to  go  from  one  valley 
into  another  without  going  round.  We  then  either  ride  in 
vehicles  (in  a  few  cases  they  have  made  roads  zigzagging 
up  the  steep  slopes),  but  most  commonly  we  have  to  go 
over  on  mules  or  horses,  as  the  paths  are  so  steep  and 
crooked  and  narrow  that  no  vehicle  can  be  got  up.  The 
places  where  we  cross  are  called  "  passes  "  and  are  of  vari- 
ous heights.  They  are  interesting  as  commanding  distant 
views  of  the  lofty,  snow-clad  summits.  We  all  went  over 
one  very  fine  pass  in  a  private  carriage  and  enjoyed  it 
exceedingly. 

In  October  Youmans  returned  to  America  with  his 
wife,  leaving  his  sister  and  brother  in  London.  He 
had  scarcely  reached  home,  at  Saratoga,  when  the 


Second  and  Third  Visits  to  England.  191 

shocking  news  arrived  that  his  brother  Warren  had 
been  murdered  on  his  own  farm  in  Minnesota. 

SARATOGA,  October  23,  1865. 

DEAR  BROTHER  AND  SISTER  :  The  letter  I  wrote  you 
last  week  is  probably  in  mid-ocean,  yet  when  it  w^as  written 
our  dear  brother  Warren  was  already  quietly  resting  in  his 
grave.  His  life  has  been  full  of  manly  activity  and  earnest 
struggle,  but  he  is  now  released,  and  the  vicissitudes  of 
earth  will  trouble  him  no  more.  The  manner  of  his  death 
was  shocking,  but  his  suffering  could  hardly  have  been 
protracted.  It  may  perhaps  matter  little  to  the  subject  of 
it  what  are  the  accompaniments  of  his  exit,  but  the  reflec- 
tion must  always  be  most  painful  to  the  survivors  that  it 
involved  a  crime  and  was  a  consequence  of  human  brutality. 
Yes,  as  Earle  says,  the  family  circle,  so  long  happily  pre- 
served, is  broken  at  last.  The  tragic  elements  of  life  come 
into  sharper  relief,  and  we  have  a  stern  and  startling  ad- 
monition that  whatever  we  do  must  be  done  promptly,  for 
the  time  will  swiftly  come  when  we  must  take  our  place 
beside  our  fallen  brother.  I  have  a  very  deep  satisfaction 
in  my  remembrance  of  the  visit  we  had  with  Warren  last 
winter.  I  enjoyed  it  inexpressibly  at  the  time,  and  I  think 
it  was  a  very  pleasant  experience  to  him.  He  was  so  un- 
affected and  natural,  satisfied  to  be  simply  himself — as  had 
always  been  one  of  his  marked  traits  of  character.  .  .  . 

I  brought  Earle's  letter  home  last  Friday,  and  did  not 
open  it  till  I  found  Pa  in  the  barn  husking,  #s  it  was 
directed  to  him.  Of  course,  it  was  a  terrible  blow  to  us 
both,  but  Pa  bore  it  very  calmly.  We  went  in  and  took 
Ma  upstairs  into  your  room.  I  told  her  we  had  dreadful 
news,  and  she  was  hardly  able  to  make  her  way.  "  Is  Ann 
Eliza  dead  ? "  said  she.  I  told  her  "  No,"  it  was  War- 
ren, and  explained  how  he  died.  She  was  deeply  affected, 
but  bore  it  far  better  than  I  feared  she  would.  Of  course, 
the  first  thought  was  about  his  dying  "unprepared."  I 


192  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

replied  at  once  and  decisively  to  that,  and  I  think  it  greatly 
composed  her.  Indeed,  I  am  well  persuaded  that  this  first 
practical  trial  of  her  theology  shows  it  to  have  utterly  lost 
its  power.  She  quickly  recovered  her  entire  self-posses- 
sion, and,  although  deeply  saddened  by  the  affliction,  she  is 
quite  herself  again.  Zella,*  of  course,  felt  very  badly,  but, 
poor  child,  she  could  not  realize  the  event.  The  destroy- 
ing angel  has  passed  over  our  house,  and  one  of  our  family 
has  disappeared  from  the  scene  ;  the  rest  remain  as  before, 
preserving  the  courses  that  each  must  follow  for  himself. 
I  am  again  at  work  preparing  my  lectures,  which  I  think 
of  illustrating  somewhat,  and  hope  to  get  Millicent  to  make 
my  diagrams.  The  work  is  much  advanced  outside — corn 
husked,  potatoes  safe — only  the  turnips  to  secure.  The 
weather  is  quite  cold  and  blustering  ;  to-day  is  pleasanter, 
but  the  time  of  bleak  and  rasping  winds  has  come.  I  had 
almost  forgotten  to  say  that  we  received  your  long,  wel- 
come, and  satisfactory  letter  of  October  26.  last  Thursday. 
I  have  no  time  to  comment  on  it  now,  nor  is  it  needful,  I 
am  very  glad  that  events  so  shaped  themselves  that  you 
can  continue  in  your  place,  as  it  has  many  advantages. 
Your  opportunity  is  a  golden  one,  and  I  know  you  will 
improve  it.  Let  nothing  disturb  you.  Ma's  chief  trouble 
in  our  late  affliction  is  fearing  its  effect  upon  you,  for  you 
are  more  constantly  in  her  thoughts  than  any  other.  It 
was  a  sore  disappointment  that  you  did  not  return  ;  but 
as  soon  as  she  understood  the  circumstances  she  cheer- 
fully acquiesced  in  the  course  adopted.  I  am  most  happy 
that  we  are  at  home  now. 

Very  affectionately,  EDWARD. 

The  brother  (William  Jay  Youmans)  and  the  sister 
were  busily  occupied  in  London,  he  studying  physi- 

*  Warren's  daughter  by  his  first  wife.     She  had  lived  with  her  grand- 
parents since  her  babyhood. 


Second  and  Third  Visits  to  England.  193 

ology  with  Huxley  and  she  botany  with  Henslow,  and 
each  preparing-  to  make  a  text-book  available  for 
American  purposes.*  Delightful  place  as  London  is 
for  persons  engaged  in  such  sort  of  work,  there  is 
nothing  strange  or  unusual  in  one's  having  a  fit  of  the 
blues  when  the  broad  ocean  is  between  one's  self  and 
one's  home.  The  following  fragments  of  a  most  kind- 
ly and  cosy  letter  tell  their  own  story  : 

SARATOGA,  November  12,  1865. 

DEAR  BROTHER  AND  SISTER:  Your  letter  of  super- 
abounding  misery  came  yesterday.  It  seems  to  me  it  must 
explode  soon  ;  I  do  not  think  the  boilers  can  stand  another 
inch  of  pressure.  I  think  we  have  discomfort  enough  on 
this  raw,  bleak,  windy  hill,  with  our  extraordinary  environ- 
ment. I  have  Millicent  here,  drawing  part  of  the  time ; 
Kitty  has  a  seamstress  part  of  the  time;  Kitty,  Carrie, 
and  Zella  are  housekeepers.  Last  Thursday  Mrs.  Rowland 
sent  word  that  she  and  Mrs.  Carr  were  coming  a-visiting 
Friday.  At  the  same  time  Carrie  received  a  letter  that  her 
folks  were  to  have  a  surprise  party  Friday  night,  and  she 
must  come  home.  And  so  Pa  had  to  quit  the  securing  of 
his  cabbage  and  go  up  on  to  the  mountain  to  carry  his  help, 
and  Zella  has  been  after  her  to-day.  I  can't  get  a  thing 
done  to  the  ice-house  ;  the  turnips  and  the  cabbages  have 
occupied  the  last  three  weeks.  Our  father's  cabbage  crop 
comes  out  as.  usual— he  can't  get  anything  for  it.  Three 
fourths  of  the  teams  we  meet  coming  from  Saratoga  are 
laden  with  cabbages  which  they  can't  give  away.  Cab- 
bages, rye,  and  rye-straw  are  the  minima  of  the  market. 
Why  do  I  talk  about  such  things  ?  Because  the  universe 
from  this  standpoint  is  composed  entirely  of  cabbages  and 
carrots  and  kindred  objects  and  interests.  They  have  hired 

*  Miss  Youmans's  Botany  was  published  in  1869,  and  has  been  a  very 
successful  text-book. 


194  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

a  school  teacher  of  very  remarkable  claims  at  a  great  price. 
Mrs.  Rowland  says  "she  writes  an  excellent  hand,  and 
closes  the  school  with  singing  " — or  will  close  it  after  she 
begins.  It  is  inspiring  to  see  H.  R.  pressing  up  the  educa- 
tional mountain  with  superhuman  afflatus,  disappearing 
among  the  clouds  and  shouting  "  Excelsior  !  "  There  is  no 
news — that  is,  nobody's  dead  that  I  have  heard  of.  I  am 
beginning  my  lecture  to-day  ;  have  two  weeks  to  prepare 
it  in.  As  I  approach  it  I  begin  to  have  hope  of  it  again. 
Millicent  has  finished  one  diagram  and  has  another  ad- 
vanced. The  third  and  largest  will  occupy  her  a  good 
while.  I  hope  she  will  have  it  done  by  the  time  I  am 
ready.  I  am  going  to  try  it  on  up  at  the  meeting-house 
for  the  benefit  of  the  society,  at  ten  cents  a  head.  The 
prospect  is  I  shall  have  a  good  deal  of  lecturing  to  do,  but 
how  much  is  still  undetermined.  I  have  many  applications, 
but  they  are  scattered.  I  shall  get  from  fifty  to  one  hun- 
dred dollars — mostly,  I  think,  seventy-five  dollars.  Buf- 
falo, Cleveland,  Akron,  Detroit,  will  pay  a  hundred ;  others 
less.  Many  new  places  are  applying  in  Ohio,  Michigan, 
Wisconsin,  Illinois,  Iowa.  I  shall  work  chiefly  in  the  West 
and  be  there  most  of  the  winter.  Your  letter  of  October 
22d,  filled  with  rain,  fog,  smoke,  and  universal  misery,  has 
caused  a  very  considerable  amount  of  misery  here  also. 
Ma  is  certain  that  Eliza  will  either  go  crazy  or  die  this 
winter. 

The  Botany  may  be  all  very  well,  but  it  may  cost  too 
much.  I  have  no  doubt  the  weather  is  crushing  and  killing 
to  the  spirits.  Whenever  you  feel  that  you  can't  stand  it 
any  longer,  or  that  there  is  no  further  object  or  use  in  your 
staying,  come  back.  Take  a  Cunarder — the  China  for  Bos- 
ton, or  the  Scotia  for  New  York,  it's  immaterial  which  ; 
and  if  on  the  China,  get  a  berth,  if  possible  (and  I  pre- 
sume there  will  be  no  difficulty  in  winter),  near  the  stair- 
case. It  will  have  air  and  be  away  from  noise.  Twelve 


Second  and  Third  Visits  to  England.  195 

or  thirteen  days  in  winter  will  probably  fetch  you  across ; 
but  I  would  not  return  till  I  had  tried  changing  quarters, 
and  get  good  quarters  if  you  change  at  all.  Respecting 
Spencer's  affairs,  I  cannot  write  more  till  I  have  some- 
thing to  write,  and  I  shall  have  nothing  to  write  till  I  do 
something  myself.  That  I  shall  do  as  soon  as  I  can. 

I  wish  Eliza  would  go  to  the  British  Museum,  find  the 
transactions  of  the  Royal  Society,  look  over  the  list  of  con- 
tributors from  its  foundation  to  1860,  and  see  how  many 
noblemen  are  among  them.  This  is  important,  and  has  not 
been  done.  I  shall  go  into  this  field — this  English  educa- 
tion field — next  winter.  It  will  be  very  popular  and  very 
important.  I  wish  she  would  also  call  on  Miss  Margaret 
Jones,  whose  whereabouts  can  be  learned  at  the  "  Home 
Colonial,"  St.  Chadd's  Row.  I  think  it  is  not  far  from  your 
place,  and  I  would  go  there  and  hunt  the  woman  out  and 
see  her  school.  I  would  take  a  little  whiskey  and  stir  around. 
It  is  Sunday  night ;  our  folks  are  writing. 

Affectionately,  E.  L.  Y. 

Sunday  Evening,  November  12,  1865. 

DEAR  CHILDREN  :  To-morrow  morning,  Edward  says,  a 
letter  must  start  for  Europe,  and  I  thought  I  would  drop  a 
few  lines  to  you,  so  that  you  might  not  have  it  to  say  that 
Pa  never  wrote  to  us  while  in  Europe.  And  what  shall  I 
say  ?  The  first  thing  I  have  to  say  is  that  we  are  alive  and 
well,  and  I  think  Eliza  will  say  that  is  a  great  blessing.  It 
is  indeed,  especially  if  we  rightly  improve  it;  and  who  does 
rightly  improve  it  ?  Those  only  who  glorify  God,  that  they 
may  enjoy  him  forever.  Think  of  it !  We  have  recently 
had  fresh  proof  of  the  uncertainty  of  life.  We  received  a 
letter  last  night  from  you,  dated  the  latter  part  of  October, 
and  were  very  glad  to  hear  from  you,  and  especially  of 
your  resolution  to  write  every  week.  It  may  stimulate  us 
to  write  oftener.  We  were  sorry  to  hear  that  Eliza  was  so 
miserable.  No  doubt  you  are  homesick.  If  that  be  the 


196  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

case  you  can  cure  yourself  of  it  by  just  saying,  Well,  I 
cannot  go  home  until  next  April,  and  I  will  take  things 
easy.  Do  not  expose  yourself  by  overdoing  or  underdoing. 
Take  no  more  exercise  than  is  necessary ;  it  has  been  the 
bane  of  our  family — overdoing.  You  might  all  stop  over- 
doing but  myself;  I  cannot.  However,  my  time  is  so  near 
out,  it  makes  but  little  difference  with  me.  Another  idea  is, 
time  is  on  the  wing;  days  and  weeks  and  months  fly  apace. 
April  will  soon  be  here ;  then  we  shall  all  be  glad  to  see 
you  and  bid  you  a  hearty  welcome. 

V.  YOUMANS. 

MY  VERY  DEAR  ELIZA  AND  JAY  :  When  we  heard  the 
sad  tidings  of  your  brother's  death  my  first  reflection  was 
my  unfaithfulness  to  my  dear  ones  when  they  were  young. 
This  was  a  cutting  reflection,  and  I  thought  if  I  could  once 
more  meet  you  all  I  would  entreat  and  endeavour  to  per- 
suade you  to  make  that  preparation  which  is  all-important. 
Everything  earthly  seems  to  vanish,  and  eternity  with  all 
its  vast  realities  looms  up  before  my  mind.  One  immortal 
spirit  committed  to  my  charge  has  gone  to  the  judgment. 
Feeling  and  knowing  that  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  will 
do  right,  we  leave  him  there.  But  the  living — where  are 
they  ?  Will  not  they  now  listen  to  the  voice  that  speaks 
from  the  tomb,  saying,  Be  ye  also  ready,  for  in  such  an  hour 
as  ye  think  not  death  may  come  and  cut  short  all  your 
prospects  ?  Feeling  that  no  words  of  mine  will  reach  your 
case,  I  go  to  the  Mercy  seat  and  lay  your  case  before  the 
Saviour,  pleading  that  he  will  grant  the  Holy  Spirit  so  to 
impress  truth  upon  your  hearts  that  you  may  be  led  to  in- 
quire, What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  Only  look  up  to  the 
Light,  ask  to  be  guided  aright,  and  you  will  soon  be  safe 
within  the  inclosure.  If  you  come  with  penitence,  the 
Saviour  will  meet  you  with  open  arms  and  bid  you  a  ... 


Second  and  Third  Visits  to  England.  197 

Monday^  November  ijth. 

Ma  broke  down  at  half  past  ten  last  night  at  the  point 
where  I  now  commence  in  Mr.  Cook's  shop.* 

I  have  little  to  add,  except  to  say  I  will  send  you  all 
the  money  you  can  use.  Go  to  the  theatre  every  night — to 
Christy's — everywhere  where  there  is  any  fun  going  on. 
Spend  at  least  fifty  cents  to  a  dollar  every  day  in  cab  rid- 
ing;  anything  to  stir  up  and  get  out  of  the  dumps.  If 
Eliza  sews  any,  she  had  better  do  it  on  dresses,  silk  or  what 
not.  Jay  can  buy  shirts  already  made,  but  dresses  you  can't 
get  so.  Nor  can  you  pass  through  the  customhouse  goods 
merely  cut  into  breadths.  They  must  be  finished  and  worn. 
There  is  no  prospect  of  goods  being  lower  in  a  long  time. 
It  is  the  infernal  tariff,  and  not  the  exchange,  which  makes 
them  so  high.  ...  In  December  Kitty  will  probably  be  in 
New  York.  You  had  better  direct  to  New  York,  care  of 
Appletons.  If  we  are  here,  they  will  send  up.  If  we  are 
in  New  York,  we  can  send  up  home.  Don't  write  anything 
for  our  folks  that  is  discouraging.  Write  anything  to  me. 
Affectionately,  EDWARD. 

CENTURY  CLUB,  NEW  YORK,  December  4,  1865. 
MY  DEAR  SISTER  :  I  left  home  Thursday — it  is  now 
Monday  night  —  lectured  yesterday  before  the  Normal 
School,  on  Friday  at  Cooperstown ;  spent  Sunday  here  ; 
go  to-night  to  Albany ;  speak  on  Wednesday  at  Utica,  on 
Thursday  at  Jersey  City,  and  then  rest  a  little.  Your  let- 
ter about  the  Botany  came  the  very  hour  of  my  leaving;  I 
had  to  leave  it  for  our  folks.  It  mortifies  me  that  I  have 
made  myself  so  little  understood  that  you  suppose  I  am 
especially  anxious  for  you  to  work  at  either  the  Botany  or 
any  other  task.  If  you  can  enjoy  it  better  to  do  otherwise, 
by  all  means  do  that  which  will  be  most  agreeable  ;  that  is 

*  Edward's  mother  had  trouble  with  her  eyes,  and  in  this  instance  they 
failed  her  so  that  she  could  not  finish  the  sentence. 


198  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

the  very  first  condition  of  health,  and  I  did  not  dream  of 
your  touching  the  Botany  except  when  you  felt  like  it,  and 
would  rather,  from  intrinsic  pleasure,  work  at  it  than  not. 
It  would,  no  doubt,  be  very  well,  but  I  care  little  for  it — 
nothing,  absolutely  nothing,  for  it  in  comparison  with  your 
comfort.  I  think  there  is  a  great  deal  in  Spencer's  sug- 
gestion, that  if  you  make  a  business  of  amusement  you  can 
get  interested  in  it ;  and  to  get  thus  interested  in  something 
would  be  your  salvation.  So  pray  take  it  up  systematically, 
cost  what  it  will ;  that  is  nothing,  literally  less  than  nothing, 
in  the  scale  of  benefits.  I  shall  get  seventy-five  dollars  a 
night  this  winter,  and  sometimes  one  hundred  dollars.  Am 
beginning  to  realize  the  fruition  of  long  labour  and  long 
weary  waiting,  in  all  of  which  you  have  shared,  and  in  all  of 
which  you  must  continue  to  share.  Take  Jay  and  go  to 
the  theatre  every  night,  to  the  minstrels,  the  wax  figures, 
the  workhouse,  and  I  think  that  last  will  be  an  excellent 
place  to  go  to  for  change.  Be  assiduous  in  taking  it  easy. 
I  have  thought  latterly  that  the  Botany  was  perhaps  a  mis- 
take ;  you  had  got  deeper  in  and  further  on  with  the  Psy- 
chology— that  would  have  worked  itself.  Say  to  Jay  to  go 
in  for  nervous  system  and  brains.  If  Huxley  does  as  he  has 
a  mind  to  in  treating  subjects,  so  may  his  partner.  Brains 
are  the  things,  and  are  coming  up.  I  have  got  some  brains 
in  Dynamics  of  Life,  and  they  tell.  Say  further  to  Jay  to 
have  as  good  a  time  as  he  can  get  and  while  he  can  get 
it.  ...  Our  folks  have  come  out  Untversalists.  They  say 
they  don't  believe  in  any  literal  hell  of  real  genuine  fire, 
and  never  did  ! — which  is  the  tallest  kind  of  an  orthodox  fib. 

Shortly  after  his  return  from  England  Youmans 
received  a  letter  from  his  friend,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bellows, 
of  New  York,  urging  him  to  accept  a  non-resident  pro- 
fessorship at  the  college  founded  by  Horace  Mann,  at 
Antioch,  Ohio.  His  duties  were  limited  to  giving  a 


Second  and  Third  Visits  to  England.  199 

course  of  twelve  lectures  annually,  for  a  salary  of  five 
hundred  dollars.  Some  time  before  he  had  been  of- 
fered the  presidency  of  this  college,  and  had  declined 
it.  He  now  accepted  Dr.  Bellows's  proposal,  and 
gave  his  course  of  lectures  there  in  1866.  Then  the 
pressure  of  other  duties  obliged  him  to  resign. 

In  that  autumn  of  1865  we  were  all  dismayed  by 
the  announcement  that  Mr.  Spencer  would  no  longer 
be  able  to  go  on  issuing  his  series  of  philosophical 
works  setting  forth  the  doctrine  of  evolution.  In  Lon- 
don they  were  published  at  his  own  expense  and  risk, 
and  despite  the  earnest  efforts  made  in  America  the 
state  of  the  accounts  was  very  discouraging.  His 
property  was  too  small  to  admit  of  his  going  on  and 
losing  at  such  a  rate.  As  soon  as  this  was  known,  John 
Stuart  Mill  begged  to  be  allowed  to  assume  the  entire 
pecuniary  responsibility  of  continuing  the  publication  ; 
but  this  Mr.  Spencer,  while  deeply  affected  by  such 
noble  sympathy,  would  not  hear  of.  He  consented, 
however,  with  great  reluctance,  to  the  attempt  of 
Huxley  and  Lubbock  and  other  friends  to  increase 
artificially  the  list  of  subscribers  by  inducing  people 
to  take  the  work  just  in  order  to  help  support  it.  But 
after  several  months  the  sudden  death  of  Mr.  Spen- 
cer's father  added  something  to  his  means  of  support, 
and  he  thereupon  withdrew  his  consent  to  this  ar- 
rangement, and  determined  to  go  on  publishing  as 
before,  and  bearing  the  loss. 

But,  as  soon  as  the  first  evil  tidings  reached  Amer- 
ica, Youmans  determined  to  avert  the  disaster,  if  pos- 
sible. As  the  needful  aid  was  not  to  be  had  through 
any  available  accession  to  his  list  of  subscribers  to  the 
serial,  he  made  up  his  mind  that  a  sum  of  money  must 


2OO  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

forthwith  be  raised  by  subscription  for  the  express 
purpose  of  repairing  the  loss  already  incurred,  and 
thus  enabling  Mr.  Spencer  to  go  on  with  his  work. 
Once  let  this  difficulty  of  a  day  be  surmounted,  and 
the  path  of  the  new  philosophy  would  soon  become 
straight  and  easy.  It  is  delightful  to  remember  the 
vigour  with  which  our  dear  friend  took  up  this  task. 
It  was  more  of  "  his  kind  of  work,"  and,  as  usual,  it  was 
successful.  The  sum  of  seven  thousand  dollars  was 
raised  and  invested  in  American  securities  in  Mr. 
Spencer's  name.  If  he  did  not  see  fit  to  accept  these 
securities,  they  would  go  without  an  owner.  The  best 
Waltham  watch  that  could  be  procured  was  presented 
to  Mr.  Spencer  by  his  American  friends ;  a  letter, 
worded  with  rare  delicacy  and  tact,  was  written  by 
the  late  Robert  Minturn ;  and  Youmans,  who  was 
going  to  England  to  publish  there  his  Culture  de- 
manded by  Modern  Life,  took  the  watch  to  Spencer. 
It  was  a  charming  scene  on  a  summer  day  in  an  Eng- 
lish garden  when  the  great  philosopher  was  apprised 
of  what  had  been  done.  It  was  so  skilfully  managed 
that  he  could  not  refuse  the  tribute  without  seeming 
churlish.  He  therefore  accepted  it,  and  applied  it  to 
extending  his  researches  in  descriptive  sociology. 

In  this  connection  the  following  extracts  are  inter- 
esting : 

NEW  YORK,  January  2,  1866. 

DEAR  SISTER  :  Sixty-five  is  in  its  grave,  and  we  start 
fresh  with  a  new  year.  In  my  last  two  letters  I  have  indi- 
cated in  a  vague  way  what  I  am  about.  I  made  up  my 
mind  to  make  a  drive  in  the  direction  of  a  cash  testimonial 
to  Mr.  Spencer  that  should  cover  his  loss  of  $5,500  since 
he  commenced  publication.  Having  myself  decided  upon 
ijt,  I  drew  up  a  circular,  a  copy  of  which  I  send  to  you  (care 


Second  and  Third  Visits  to  England.  201 

of  Layton,  for  fear  some  accident  might  cause  it  to  tran- 
spire at  88).*  Read  it,  and  then  hide  it.  Neither  let 
Spencer  nor  anybody  else  but  Jay  have  a  glimpse  of  it ;  it 
might  be  fatal  to  all  future  action.  I  send  it  for  your  satis- 
faction alone,  and  to  show  that  I  have  not  been  idle.  I 
came  down  to  the  city  last  week  expressly  on  this  business. 
Of  course  1  cannot  tell  now  what  will  be  the  result.  I  had 
but  one  day  here  to  try  it  after  I  got  the  circular,  but 
things  look  fair.  ...  I  called  on  Beecher — I  had  spoken 
to  him  when  he  lectured  in  Saratoga  that  I  wanted  to  see 
him  about  some  such  matter.  I  called  with  the  proof  of 
the  circular.  He  says,  "  Well,  what's  this  nonsense  ?  "  "I 
want  your  distinct  opinion  of  this  circular — its  suitableness 
for  its  work,  its  redundancy,  its  diffuseness."  He  glanced 
it  over :  "  '  Mongrel  scheme  of  aristocratical  and  ecclesias- 
tical government ' !  That  won't  do  ;  strike  out  mongrel. 
Spencer  never  calls  names  or  uses  an  epithet,  not  even 
when  he  is  going  to  cut  a  thing  up  root  and  branch.  Well, 
it's  very  good.  Have  you  seen  X,  Y,  and  Z  ?  "  f  "  No," 
said  I ;  "  I  sort  of  disliked  to  call  on  them.  I  did  so  before 
and  thought  they  were  a  little  afraid."  "Yes,  that's  it; 
nobody  so  cowardly  as  your  half  liberal,  who  has  got  to 
take  care  of  his  position.  See  here !  leave  those  old  infidel 
fellows  to  me.  I'll  say,  *  Here,  you  needn't  be  afraid  of  this 
if  I  ain't.'  It's  revolutionary,  but  who  cares.  Turn  which 
way  it  will,  I'm  bound  to  come  out  on  top,  for  I  go  in  for 
the  truth. \  Send  me  some  of  those  circulars  as  soon  as 

*  He  means  88  Kensington  Gardens  Square,  Mr.  Spencer's  lodging  at 
that  time. 

\  Naming  three  distinguished  liberal  preachers.  I  do  not  think  it 
necessary  to  give  the  names. 

\  Nobly  said,  old  Beecher !  His  head  was  always  sound  and  clear  on 
such  points.  In  a  letter  of  November,  1864.  Youmans  says :  "  I  saw 
Beecher  yesterday.  He  says  :  '  Stir  them  up — subsoil  the  people  with 
Spencer,  Huxley,  and  Tyndall.  I  have  got  them  all,  and  go  in  for  them 
all.  If  the  trellis  of  old  philosophies  is  rotten  and  falling  down,  take  it 


2O2  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

possible.  I  have  a  little  time  now,  but  I  shall  soon  be  off." 
...  Of  course  it  won't  do  to  let  Spencer  know  what  is 
going  on  at  all.  He  would  spoil  it,  sure  as  fate.  It  is  un- 
certain at  best,  but  to  succeed  it  must  be  already  done  and 
come  upon  him  in  a  shape  he  cannot  help.  .  .  .  Good-by. 
I  leave  to-night  for  the  West  to  be  absent  at  least  six 
weeks.  I  am  sorry  to  go  just  now. 

FREEPORT,  ILL.,  February  i^  1866. 

DEAR  SISTER  :  Welcome  back  again  with  all  gladness,  if 
you  are  back  and  not  dead.  It  was  plucky  to  undertake  it, 
just  after  Jay's  account  of  sea-sickness,  but  I  suppose  you 
rushed  into  it  with  a  fatal  fascination,  as  people  go  and 
hang  themselves  when  the  air  is  filled  with  rumours  of 
suicide.  I  trust  you  came  through  with  nothing  more  than 
indescribable  physical  discomfort.  I  know  all  were  de- 
lighted to  see  you  at  home,  as  I  certainly  shall  be  if  I  ever 
get  home,  and  I  hope  you  will  take  it  easy  and  pick  up 
strength.  I  am  storm-bound  here;  snow  deep;  thermometer 
minus  twenty,  and  railroad  obstructed.  Went  to  lecturing 
hall — only  twenty  persons  present,  the  weather  so  horrible. 
Night  before  last  missed  an  engagement  by  failing  to  con- 
nect. Shall  try  it  again  to-night,  but  this  week  will  amount 
to  nothing.  I  hope  to  be  back  to  New  York  by  first  of 
March. 

I  smoke — praise  be  to  God  for  tobacco  ! 

NEW  YORK,  March  j,  1866. 

MY  DEAR  FISKE  :  I  have  just  returned  from  a  long  lec- 
turing tour  West,  in  which  I  had  the  calamity  to  get  no 
news  from  home  for  nearly  two  months — everything  missed 
me.  Your  letter  of  January  2oth  therefore  has  been  left 
till  now  unconsidered.  I  was  delighted  to  see  it,  to  hear 
from  you,  and  to  get  a  glimpse  of  such  a  vision  of  glory 

away  and  let  us  have  a  better.  We  can  train  the  vines  of  faith  on  the  new 
one  just  as  well.'  " 


Second  and  Third  Visits  to  England.  203 

as  you  there  picture.  I  think  you  are  altogether  right; 
I  never  thought  the  practice  of  law  would  satisfy  you. 
You  are  on  the  right  track — a  little  routine  literary  work, 
which  will  not  exhaust  the  mind,  but  will  keep  the  pot  in  a 
state  of  brisk  ebullition,  leaving  the  surplus  of  time  and 
force  for  independent  thinking.  Business  first,  of  course — 
the  dear  wife  and  darling  baby,  food  and  raiment,  before 
all  other  things — and  beyond  doubt  the  first  condition  of 
all  other,  success.  But  a  non-professional  and  literary  busi- 
ness, if  possible,  as  a  profession  tends  to  suck  up  all  the 
mental  juices  and  leaves  only  a  husk  for  other  things. 
Your  bill  of  fare  is  indeed  tempting,  and  makes  one's 
mouth  water  to  glance  it  over.*  I  cannot  doubt  its  suc- 
cess, and  by  this  I  mean  that  you  will  have  no  difficulty  in 
procuring  a  first-rate  publisher,  and  your  book  would  be 
bound  to  work  its  way  into  the  libraries  of  the  best 
thinkers. 

But  it  will  be  wise  not  to  entertain  too  sanguine  expecta- 
tions in  reference  to  the  profits  of  a  work  of  this  grave 
character,  and  a  first  effort  at  that.  Still,  I  doubt  not  it 
will  do  well,  and,  being  intrinsically  valuable,  can  be  made 
to  do  well  at  any  rate. 

I  opened  the  ball  for  Spencer  before  leaving  for  the 
West.  I  hoped  it  would  be  a  good  thing  to  get  it  simmer- 
ing; and  when  I  return  and  find  nothing,  nothing,  nothing 
done  by  anybody,  I  am  a  little  alarmed,  for  there  was 
considerable  stir  and  promise  before  I  left. 

There  is  one  thing  that  is  bad — infernally  bad  just  now. 
Some  Eastern  Abbot — Time  and  Space  Abbot,  I  supposef 

*  The  reference  is  to  a  projected  volume  of  essays  illustrating  the 
doctrine  of  evolution.  I  had  sent  Youmans  a  list  of  the  subjects  which 
I  proposed  to  treat.  Such  work  as  was  done  in  pursuance  of  this  design 
was  afterward  absorbed  in  the  larger  enterprise  of  the  Outlines  of  Cosmic 
Philosophy,  begun  in  1869.  The  chapter  of  that  work  entitled  Sociology 
and  Free  Will  was  written  in  this  year  (1866). 

f  Mr.  Francis  Ellingwood  Abbot,  of  Cambridge  (class  of  1859),  who 


2O4  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

— has  just  published  the  ablest  thing  yet  against  Spencer 
in  the  March  Christian  Examiner.  There  is  concession  of 
second-rate  ability,  but  a  mean  ingenuity  in  concentrating 
upon  Spencer  all  the  blistering  rays  of  theological  odium, 
and  that,  too,  with  a  vast  pretence  for  caring  only  for  the 
truth.  It  is  a  panic  appeal,  a  scream,  to  the  entire  theo- 
logical world  that  their  day  of  judgment  is  at  hand,  and 
that  Herbert  Spencer,  materialist  and  atheist,  is  the  head 
devil  who  is  engineering  the  headlong  movement.  It  is  all 
right  enough,  and  at  any  other  time  would  be  of  no  ac- 
count, but  just  now  it  embargoes  "  liberal  Christianity," 
and  leaves  us  to  raise  money  out  of  the  "world,  the  flesh, 
and  the  devil."  Well,  if  these  will  give  the  money,  I  will 
vote  them  the  true  saints  and  bet  on  their  chances  of  para- 
dise. I  am  going  to  work  at  this  thing  at  once,  and  don't 
mean  to  be  bluffed. 

I  got  a  letter  from  my  brother  in  London  yesterday,  who 
stated  that  Spencer  had  received  one  from  Mill  the  day  be- 
fore expressing  regret  and  proposing  a  remedy,  but  did  it  in 
such  a  way  as,  of  course,  to  elicit  a  prompt  and  decided  re- 
fusal. Tact  is  all-essential  in  such  a  matter.  I  have  Mill's 
letter,  and  it  is  noble,  though  not  adroit.  Spencer  exacted 
a  promise  that  it  should  not  go  out  of  my  hands.  If  I 
come  to  Boston,  as  I  may  before  long,  I  will  bring  it.  I 
am  now  going  to  work,  and  will  advise  you  of  the  result 
of  the  experiment.  I  will  send  this  to  Roberts's  care, 
thinking  perhaps  it  will  get  more  prompt  delivery.  Write 
me  what  you  think  of  Abbot's  article,  and  oblige  me  by 
pointing  out  every  flaw  you  see. 

NEW  YORK,  March  j-,  1866. 

DEAR  SISTER  :  .  .  .  There  is  nothing  in  reference  to 
the  Spencer  enterprise.  Nothing  whatever  has  been  done, 

had  published  an  able  essay  on  the  Philosophy  of  Time  and  Space  in  the 
North  American  Review. 


Second  and  Third  Visits  to  England.  205 

as  far  as  1  can  learn,  by  anybody,  and  that  is  not  the  worst. 
An  article  has  just  appeared  in  the  Christian  Examiner,  by 
"  Time  and  Space  "  Abbot,  of  a  most  malignant  character 
concerning  Spencer.  It  is  able  and  ugly.  I  am  afraid  of 
the  effect,  as  it  circulates  among  just  the  class  to  whom 
the  appeal  is  to  be  made.  I  received  your  letter  contain- 
ing Mill's  letter  to  Spencer.  I  was  glad  to  get  it  this 
morning,  as  its  tendency  was  somewhat  to  counteract  the 
unpleasant  effect  of  the  Examiner  paper.  That  article  ac- 
cords merit  to  Spencer  as  an  organizer  of  the  sciences,  but 
is  savage  on  his  religious  doctrines,  and  his  cowardice  as 
evinced  in  his  preface  to  his  Psychology,  where  he  says 
there  was  a  fifth  part  withheld  from  prudence.*  At  any 
other  time  I  should  not  mind  it,  but  now  it  is  bad.  I  shall, 
however,  go  forward  with  the  undertaking  to  see  what  will 
come  of  it.  I  have  seen  nobody  yet,  and  have  just  drawn 
up  the  paper  for  signature. 

NEW  YORK,  March  2fth. 

I  am  working  away  with  all  my  might  upon  the  review 
for  the  Tribune.  I  find  I  have  a  considerably  shorter  time 
to  do  it  in  than  I  had  expected.  Ripley  leaves  Boston 
April  25th,  and  New  York  a  week  earlier,  and  he  wants 
this  thing  attended  to  before  he  goes,  as  also  do  I.  I  am 
getting  on  very  well  with  it — that  is,  I  have  got  well  at 
work.  I  have  a  little  room  at  the  club,  warmed  and  cosy, 
where  I  go  most  of  the  day  and  till  late  at  night ;  it  is 
perfectly  still  and  quiet,  and  favourable  to  my  work.  I 

*  This  absurd  charge  of  "  cowardice,"  brought  against  Mr.  Spencer  by 
Mr.  Abbot,  would  seem  to  have  been  made  in  a  spirit  of  mere  captiousness. 
The  fifth  part  of  the  Psychology,  entitled  Physical  Synthesis,  was  withheld 
from  the  first  edition  in  1855  simply  because  Mr.  Spencer  rightly  believed 
that  without  more  explanatory  context  than  he  could  provide  for  it  in  that 
book  it  would  not  be  correctly  understood.  After  the  publication  of  First 
Principles  and  Biology  the  case  was  altered,  and  the  second  edition  of  the 
Psychology  contained  the  portion  omitted  in  the  first,  with  many  other 
additions. 


206  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

shall  stick  right  to  it  till  I  finish  it..  I  am  going  to  review 
Spencer's  Philosophy  generally,  First  Principles  and  Bio- 
logy, making  as  taking  and  impressive  an  article  as  I  can. 
I  want  to  complete  it  at  the  earliest  possible  moment,  to 
get  it  through  all  the  Tribune  editions.  Sam  May  sends 
me  the  names  of  all  the  Boston  clergy  to  help.  Poor  soul ! 

April  i8th. 

DEAR  SISTER  :  I  have  an  envelope  directed  to  you.  I 
may  as  well  fill  it.  As  for  Philamadelphiana,  I  have  been 
in  that  interesting  and  religious  town  and  have  come  away 
no  richer  but  much  wiser  than  I  went.  They  have  been 
Chauncey  Wrighted.  He  is  a  relation,  I  think,  of  the  set 
into  which  I  fell;  and  they  coolly  assured  me  that  I  would 
find  it  worse  in  Boston,  for  Spencer  was  hated  there.  I  go 

to  Boston  to-night  to  try. 

NEW  YORK,  April,  1866. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  I  send  you  the  daily  Tribune  con- 
taining my  article,  which  will  also  appear  in  the  larger 
weekly  and  semiweekly  editions  of  that  journal.  There 
is  no  other  paper  in  the  country  whose  opinion  of  books 
has  equal  weight  with  that  of  the  Tribune,  and  none  also 
which  is  so  widely  taken  by  the  editors.  We  know  how 
utterly  indiscriminating  and  stupid  newspaper  notices  of 
works  like  yours  usually  are,  and  I  felt  it  to  be  important 
that  something  should  be  done,  however  slight,  to  help 
these  gentlemen  of  the  quill.  The  notice  I  have  written  is, 
I  know,  very  imperfect  and  totally  inadequate^to  the  sub- 
ject. I  am  conscious  of  my  own  utter  incompetence  to  do 
justice  to  the  subject,  but  if  I  had  been  less  disturbed,  and 
had  had  any  opportunity  for  quiet  thought,  it  might  have 
been  better.  Still,  there  is  evidence  that  the  article  is  some- 
what suited  to  its  purpose.  I  may  add  that  the  closing  re- 
marks are  not  mere  empty  talk,  as  I  trust  time  will  show. 
You  are  doing  great  work  in  this  country,  and  have  friends 
who  very  thoroughly  appreciate  it. 


Second  and  Third  Visits  to  England.  207 

And  now  I  have  something  of  a  favour  to  ask.  For  the 
success  which  has  attended  your  reprints  in  this  country  we 
are  very  largely  indebted  to  the  liberal  and  kindly  feeling 
of  Mr.  George  Ripley,  literary  editor  of  the  Tribune.  At 
first  he  was  not  easy  to  manage,  but,  being  eminently  candid 
and  liberal,  he  soon  came  into  favourable  relation  with  our 
movement,  and  has  allowed  me  the  unrestricted  use  of  the 
Tribune,  to  act  upon  public  sentiment.  While  in  no  sense 
has  he  mastered  your  Philosophy,  he  is  in  thorough  sympa- 
thy with  your  philosophical  aims. 

Mr.  Ripley  was  educated  for  a  Unitarian  clergyman,  and 
when  a  young  man  had  charge  of  the  wealthiest  congrega- 
tion in  Boston.  But  he  could  not  endure  the  clerical  rela- 
tion, and  threw  up  his  position  to  join  the  socialistic  com- 
munity of  Brook  Farm.  Quickly  perceiving  that  this  would 
not  answer,  he  took  to  literature  systematically.  He  was 
the  senior  and  chief  editor  of  the  New  American  Cyclo- 
paedia, of  which  I  am  told  375,000  volumes  have  been  sold. 
Well,  all  this  means  that  Mr.  Ripley  sails  on  the  25th  of 
this  month  for  England,  and  will  spend  two  or  three  weeks 
in  London.  He  is  desirous  of  meeting  you,  and  I  have  given 
him  an  introductory  note.  You  will  find  him  intelligent  and 
interesting,  and  if  you  can  give  him  some  attention  while 
he  stays  in  London  I  shall  appreciate  it  as  a  personal  favour. 

I  have  told  him  that  you  are  somewhat  at  liberty  after- 
noons and  evenings,  and  I  presumed  would  be  glad  to  con- 
tribute something  to  make  his  visit  agreeable.  His  chief 
interest  is  in  people,  but  he  is  a  gentleman,  and  no  gossip. 
He  has  letters  to  Mill,  and  I  have  given  him  notes  to  Morell 
and  Bain.  I  feel  so  much  my  indebtedness  to  Ripley,  that 
if  I  could  be  remotely  instrumental  in  making  his  London 
visit  a  pleasant  one  it  would  be  a  real  gratification  ;  and  if 
you  could  bring  about  the  opportunity  of  his  seeing  Lewes, 
Tyndall,  and  Huxley — though  only  barely  to  meet  them — 
I  should  be  much  obliged. 


2o8  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

88  KENSINGTON  GARDENS  SQUARE,  LONDON,  W.,  April  10,  1866. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  Yesterday  I  received  your  letter 
containing  the  certificate  of  the  shares  in  which  you  have 
invested  the  amount  due  to  me.  This  letter  and  the  two 
preceding  ones  have  greatly  encouraged  me.  Thanks  to 
your  skilful  superintendence  and  untiring  energy,  without 
which  it  is  clear  that  nothing  would  be  practicable,  it 
seems  to  me  that  I  may  take  a  hopeful  view  of  matters. 
The  amount  that  has  come  to  me  is  far  greater  than  I 
had  anticipated ;  and  if  I  may  take  it  as  evidence  on  the 
strength  of  which  any  estimate  for  the  future  may  be 
formed,  the  difficulty  becomes  greatly  lessened.  I  quite 
recognize  the  fact  that,  after  omitting  the  amounts  arising 
from  the  Psychology  and  from  Mr.  Silsbee's  payment,  which 
'do  not  enter  into  the  estimate,  the  remainder  largely  con- 
sists of  the  sums  arising  from  the  sales  of  books  recently 
published,  which  can  hereafter  be  expected  to  bring  in 
comparatively  little.  Still,  taking  the  case  of  the  Educa- 
tion as  some  sort  of  index  (though  one  evidently  much 
too  favourable  to  apply  generally),  there  seems  reasonable 
ground  for  anticipating  an  annual  total  not  to  be  despised. 
And  if,  as  you  think,  the  financial  condition  will  improve 
with  tolerable  rapidity,  the  ability  to  draw  the  proceeds 
without  much  loss  would  make  things  much  easier. 

As  to  the  progress  of  matters  here,  though  I  have  been 
aware  from  hints  dropped  for  some  time  that  something 
was  doing  among  those  interested  in  preventing  the  im- 
pending stoppage,  I  did  not  learn  until  two  days  ago  what 
was  the  nature  of  the  course  taken ;  and  when  I  did  learn 
it,  a  misapprehension  very  nearly  led  me  to  put  a  peremp- 
tory stop  to  it.  Indeed,  I  was  on  my  way  to  the  printers 
with  the  draught  of  an  adverse  circular,  when  I  learned  the 
true  state  of  the  case.  It  is  now  probable  that,  after  insist- 
ing on  certain  qualifying  conditions,  I  may  agree  to  the 
arrangement  that  has  been  secretly  made,  and  which  I  find 


Second  and  Third  Visits  to  England.  209 

I  can  hardly  resist  without  quarrelling  with  my  friends  who 
have  made  it.  It  seems  that  the  arrangement  has  resulted 
under  the  pressure  of  a  number  of  persons  interested,  chiefly 
wealthy,  who  were  anxious  that  something  should  be  done 
to  meet  the  difficulty,  and  who,  under  the  guidance  of  Hux- 
ley, Tyndall,  Busk,  Lubbock,  and  Mill,  have  arranged  to 
take  a  large  number  of  copies  (250)  for  distribution ;  and 
they  say  that  I  cannot  prevent  them.  However,  I  shall 
refrain  from  opposing  the  arrangement  only  on  condition 
of  a  large  reduction  in  the  number  (down  to  150)  and  the 
erasure  of  the  names  of  some  of  those  concerned. 

I  have  received  the  two  periodicals  which  you  have  been 
good  enough  to  send  me.  As  usual,  where  there  is  theo- 
logical antagonism  there  is  plenty  of  misstatement  and 
garbling  of  evidence  by  leaving  out  passages  that  give  a 
totally  different  meaning  to  the  passages  quoted.  If  it 
were  worth  while  rebutting  these  statements,  a  strong  case 
of  deliberate  untruthfulness  might  be  made  out.*  But  I 
have  no  energy  to  spare  in  controversies,  and  must  make 
up  my  mind  to  be  continually  misrepresented.  I  am  glad 
to  hear  that  the  first  volume  of  the  Biology  is  at  length 
printed.  I  suppose  it  will  be  issued  before  this  reaches 

*  Usually,  however,  I  believe  that  such  misrepresentations  admit  of  a 
more  charitable  construction.  They  are  probably  oftener  due  to  dulness 
than  to  dishonesty.  It  is  hard  to  make  sufficient  allowance  for  the  abys- 
mal depth  of  human  stupidity.  Such  a  luminous  intelligence  as  Mr.  Spen- 
cer's cannot  realize  the  way  in  which  ordinary  minds,  even  of  many  men 
who  are  able  enough  in  some  things,  grope  in  darkness  and  stick  fast  in  the 
mud.  I  cannot  help  feeling  some  regret  that  Mr.  Spencer  has  not  adhered 
more  closely  to  the  resolution  above  expressed,  not  to  waste  time  and 
strength  in  controversies.  His  rejoinders  are  always  delightful  to  read, 
but  they  must  often  have  consumed  hours  which  had  been  better  devoted 
to  the  great  work.  Such  arguments  as  rebutting  charges  of  materialism, 
etc.,  are,  moreover,  apt  to  be  wasted.  As  long  as  people  feel  like  making 
such  charges  they  will  do  so,  but  it  is  less  the  fashion  now  than  half  a  cen- 
tury ago,  and  by  and  by  it  will  cease  entirely.  A  sufficient  number  of  funer- 
als is  sure  to  bring  a  change  of  fashion. 


10 


2io  Edward  Livingston  Yonmans. 

you.  These  investigations  which  I  have  had  to  make  on 
the  Circulation  in  Plants  have  greatly  hindered  me.  I  have 
only  quite  recently  got  to  work  against  my  next  number. 
I  shall  not  get  it  out  before  the  end  of  May  or  the  begin- 
ning of  June. 

Your  brother  left  us  ten  days  ago.  I  hope  he  will  have 
had  as  favourable  a  voyage  as  your  sister.  When  next 
you  write  you  will,  I  hope,  be  able  to  give  me  some  infor- 
mation as  to  your  intended  movements.  I  shall  probably 
remain  in  London  till  the  middle  of  July. 

With  kind  regards  to  your  wife  and  sister,  very  truly 
yours,  HERBERT  SPENCER. 

88  KENSINGTON  GARDENS  SQUARE,  LONDON,  W.,  May  7,  1866. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  Before  you  receive  this  you  will 
probably  have  received  the  Derby  paper,  which  I  posted  to 
you  on  Friday,  containing  a  paragraph  which  you  will  read 
with  melancholy  interest — a  brief  tribute  of  respect  to  my 
late  father.  I  was  called  down  to  him  by  telegraph  this 
day  fortnight,  and  found  him  seriously  ill,  but  not,  as  I 
supposed  or  as  any  one  supposed,  in  immediate  danger. 
He  got  gradually  worse,  however,  and  died  on  the  Thurs- 
day night.  As  you  may  imagine,  the  shock  has  been  great 
and  has  unnerved  me  greatly.  Indeed,  I  found  my  system 
running  down  so  rapidly  and  such  serious  symptoms  show- 
ing themselves,  that  I  have  been  obliged  to  come  up  to 
town  for  a  few  days'  change  of  scene,  lest  I  should  fall  into 
some  nervous  condition,  out  of  which  it  would  take  me  a 
long  time  to  recover. 

I  return  to  Derby  probably  at  the  close  of  this  week, 
and  shall  most  likely  be  away  some  time.  If  Mr.  Ripley 
(your  note  respecting  whom  has  reached  me)  should  call 
in  the  course  of  the  next  few  days,  I  shall  be  happy  to 
show  him  what  little  attention  is  possible  under  present 
circumstances ;  but  after  Friday  it  will,  I  fear,  be  out  of 
the  question  for  me  to  do  this. 


Second  and  Third  Visits  to  England.  211 

I  duly  received  the  New  York  Tribune  containing  your 
review,  which  I  read  with  much  interest.  The  general 
sketch  of  the  aspects  of  modern  thought  was  very  graphic, 
the  antithesis  between  the  aim  of  ancient  philosophy  and 
the  philosophy  of  the  moderns  being,  I  thought,  particular- 
ly happy. 

I  rejoice  to  hear  that  you  continue  your  intention  of 
returning  here  for  the  summer.  I  hope  circumstances  will 
permit  us  to  see  as  much  of  one  another  as  before.  With 
kind  regards  to  your  wife,  brother,  and  sister,  very  truly 
yours,  HERBERT  SPENCER. 

ANTIOCH  COLLEGE,  May  12,  1866, 

DEAR  SISTER  :  It  was  very  kind  of  you  to  say  that  I 
need  not  give  myself  uneasiness  about  you  in  my  absence 
or  trouble  myself  to  write.  I  did  not  at  all  intend  to  avail 
myself  of  your  generosity  when  I  left,  but,  as  Jay  has 
probably  informed  you,  the  lectures  come  thicker  than  I 
expected — five  a  week  instead  of  three.  I  have  therefore 
been  busy  every  moment  of  the  time.  I  shall  have  two 
days  of  liberty  now  (Saturday  and  Sunday),  and  the  first 
thing  I  do  this  morning  is  to  drop  you  a  line.  The  place 
is  pleasanter  here  than  I  expected  to  find  it.  Indeed,  it  has 
some  admirable  features  in  its  surroundings,  of  which  much 
might  be  made  if  there  were  the  right  spirit  and  plenty  of 
means.  The  college  structures  are  immense  and  imposing, 
but  ill  adapted  to  any  use.  Mr.  Mann  sent  out  the  plans, 
but  the  carpenter  threw  them  under  the  table,  and  bought 
a  cheap  plan  of  an  architect  and  built  according  to  his  own 
ignorant  notions.  I  have  been  glancing  over  the  history 
of  the  institution,  as  shadowed  forth  in  the  lately  published 
life  of  Horace  Mann,  and  it  is  exceedingly  instructive.  It 
has  been  cursed  from  the  beginning  by  two  things:  first, 
Western  jealousy  of  the  East,  and  second,  "  religion."  Out 
of  debt,  with  $125,000  endowment,  and  with  a  gift  of  $4,000 
or  $5,000  from  the  Unitarian  organization  this  year,  and  with 


212  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

a  full  corps  of  professors,  they  have  less  than  a  hundred 
students.  If  the  money  continues  to  pour  in,  of  course,  all 
the  motions  can  be  kept  up.  But  my  opinion  is  that  all 
the  hope  of  the  institution  lies  in  its  reorganization  upon  a 
scientific  basis,  and  I  can  conceive  few  things  more  futile 
than  such  a  hope.  The  listeners  to  the  lectures  are  from 
100  to  200  insiders  and  outsiders.  The  history  of  Mr. 
Mann's  career  is  exceedingly  impressive.  There  never  was 
a  clearer  case  of  suicide  from  ignorance  of  natural  laws.  His 
lectures,  his  letters,  his  talk,  were  full  of  the  preaching  of 
natural  law.  George  Combe  was  his  intimate  correspond- 
ent and  his  model.  The  clatter  of  "natural  laws"  runs 
through  his  entire  life,  and  yet  he  died  twenty  years  before 
his  time  from  ignorance  of  the  dynamic  law  that  exercise 
must  be  followed  by  rest.  He  was  offered  up  to  the  same 
Moloch  as  Hugh  Miller,  and  I  have  a  suspicion  that  George 
Combe  went  in  the  same  way. 

NEW  YORK,  June  2jd. 

DEAR  SISTER:  The  accompanying  note  to  Marble*  will 
explain  itself.  A  box  of  two  hundred  twenty-five-cent 
Havana  cigars  and  $950,  making  our  sum  now  $7,000  clear. 
So  the  Spencer  affair  is  finished,  all  but  the  most  trouble- 
some part.  I  will  keep  you  informed,  but  have  no  time 
to  write  further  now.  We  sail  at  twelve  to-day. 

Minturn's  letter  was  sent  by  mail,  as  appears  fur- 
ther on. 

S.  S.  CITY  OF  PARIS,  Monday,  July  2,  1866. 
DEAR  SISTER  AND  ALL  THE  REST  OF  YOU  :  We  have 
had  an  excellent  passage  on  a  very  fine  ship.  We  reached 
Queenstown  this  morning  at  five  o'clock,  eight  and  three 
quarters  days'  journey  from  New  York — a  six-hour  longer 
passage  than  the  one  previously.  Our  weather  has  been 
on  the  whole  excellent — only  two  rough  days ;  the  rest  of 

*  Manton  Marble,  at  that  time  editor  of  The  World. 


Second  and  Third  Visits  to  England.  213 

the  time  the  sea  has  been  quiet.  I  have  not  been  seasick  a 
moment  nor  missed  a  single  meal.  Kitty  has  had  the  best 
voyage  she  has  yet  had  on  the  Atlantic,  having  been  up 
every  day,  though  she  has  been  but  little  at  table.  I  have 
read  some — indeed,  considerably — and  somewhat  warmed 
myself  up  for  my  work,  but  at  the  expense  of  a  reputation 
of  great  unsociability,  which  has  made  it  unpleasant  for  me. 
The  only  men  of  note  on  board  are  two  sons  of  Cambridge, 
Harvard  College — Prof.  Torrey,  of  the  chair  of  History, 
and  Prof.  Bowen,  of  Metaphysics,  Ethics,  and  Political 
Economy.  I  have  somewhat  made  their  acquaintance,  and 
find  it  agreeable.  They  run  over  for  their  vacation.  We 
learned  by  the  pilot  this  morning  that  the  war  is  precipi- 
tated in  Germany  and  reform  scuttled  in  England.  You, 
of  course,  will  have  the  particulars,  and  perhaps  as  soon  as 
we  do.  We  expect  to  reach  Liverpool  to-night,  perhaps 
by  twelve  or  one  o'clock,  and  leave  for  London  to-morrow 
morning — Friday — by  the  9.30  train. 

LONDON,  Juty  7, 1866. 

DEAR  SISTER  :  .  .  .  I  inclose  a  note  received  last  night 
from  Spencer.  I  shall  telegraph  him  to-day,  to  learn  the 
place  and  hour  of  his  arrival,  and  meet  him  and  invite  him 
here,*  as  there  is  plenty  of  room.  I  called  on  Williams 
[of  the  firm  of  Williams  &  Norgate,  publishers  of  Mr. 
Spencer's  books]  this  morning. 

LONDON,  Friday,  July  ij,  1866. 

MY  DEAR  SISTER  :  .  .  .  I  think  I  sent  you  the  note  in 
which  Spencer  announced  his  coming  to  town.  I  tele- 
graphed him  to  meet  him,  but  he  replied  that  he  did  not 
know  at  what  hour  he  should  arrive.  Next  day  he  sent 

*  To  the  boarding  house  kept  by  a  Mrs.  Langford,  from  which  Youmans 
was  writing.  Mr.  Spencer  had  left  88  Kensington  Gardens  Square,  and 
had  not  yet  gone  to  37  Queens  Gardens,  Bayswater,  where  he  lived  so 
many  years. 


214  Edward  Livingston  Yonmans. 

me  a  dispatch  that  he  would  be  at  King's  Cross  Station  at 
six  o'clock  P.  M.  I  went  there  (and  I  may  state  that  my 
object  in  telegraphing  him  was  to  invite  him  here)  ;  the 
train  was  behind  time.  I  stayed  twenty  minutes,  and  left 
rather  than  lose  my  dinner.  He  arrived,  went  to  his 
hotel,  where  I  had  left  a  note  for  him,  and  came  directly 
here ;  decided  to  stay,  and  then  went  after  his  baggage, 
and  did  not  come  in  till  Tuesday  night.  Wednesday  morn- 
ing, after  breakfast,  it  being  very  hot,  I  proposed  to  go  out 
into  Mrs.  Langford's  garden,  where  there  are  seats  (before 
that,  however,  I  had  presented  him  with  the  box  of  cigars, 
which  he  received  very  cordially).  When  in  the  garden  we 
proposed  a  smoke,  and  as  the  cigars  are  enormously  large 
he  cut  one  into  three  pieces  and  began  on  one  third.  I 
then  referred  to  what  I  had  written  him  in  reference  to 
what  I  had  said  at  the  close  of  the  Tribune  article,  and 
that  I  was  able  to  report  that  we  had  not  been  idle.  I 
then  handed  him  Minturn's  letter,  which  had  come  in  good 
time,  and  of  which  I  enclose  a  copy.  He  read  it,  and  with 
some  excitement  and  surprise  exclaimed  :  "  Why  !  What 
is  this  ?  Good  gracious  !  WThy  !  I  thought  perhaps  you 
were  going  to  get  me  a  list  of  subscribers.  Well,  really, 
this  is  wonderful !  So  much  beyond  all  that  I  had  expected  ! 
It's  magnificent !  W'ell,  I  ought  to  have  a  list  of  the 
donors."  He  made  reference  in  language  I  cannot  recol- 
lect to  the  idea  of  its  being  all  done  past  recall ;  and  so 
the  thing  was  neatly  accomplished — a  perfect  success.  Of 
course  it  was  very  natural  there  should  be  some  embarrass- 
ment, as  well  on  my  part  as  his,  and  I  certainly  had 
nothing  particular  to  say ;  so  I  interrupted  the  somewhat 
awkward  situation  by  handing  him  the  blue-velvet  box 
containing  the  watch  and  called  his  attention  to  the  in- 
scription. This,  of  course,  was  a  descending  climax,  in- 
flection, or  whatever  you  call  it,  and  served  as  a  relief. 
He  was  much  pleased  with  it,  and  thoroughly  delighted 


Second  and  Third  Visits  to  England.  215 

with  the  whole  thing.  I  walked  with  him  afterward  in 
the  afternoon.  He  was  in  excellent  spirits,  and  made  fre- 
quent reference  to  the  "  splendid  present,"  and  I  could  see 
was  revolving  plans  at  once  on  the  basis  of  it.  He  once 
broke  out:  "  I  wish  my  poor  father  was  alive  to  know  of 
this!  Do  you  know  that  your  Tribune  notice  only  arrived 
the  day  after  his  death?"  ...  I  called  on  Huxley  this 
afternoon.  He  asked  very  cordially  after  you  and  Jay, 
and  complimented  Jay  as  a  faithful,  industrious  student, 
and  asked  if  he  was  ready  for  him.  I  shall  begin  to  have 
proofs  in  a  few  days,  and  revise  during  the  vacation  and 
publish  during  the  autumn.  I  can  send  them  over  as  fast 
as  they  go  through  the  press,  so  that  our  brother  can  be  at 
work  on-them.  So  he  is  clearly  calculating  on  the  bargain, 
and  Jay  can  edit  the  volume  and  gain  all  the  advantages  I 
originally  proposed.  .  .  .  Huxley  will  expect  to  have  our 
agreement  carried  out,  so  it  will  only  remain  for  Jay  to 
take  right  hold  of  his  sheets  as  fast  as  they  come  and  add 
as  editor  what  they  need.  It  need  not  be  a  finality,  but  it 
will  be  a  capital  step  forward,  giving  Jay  standing  at  once, 
and  it  will  also  pay  him  well  for  all  he  does  at  it. 

NEW  YORK,  June  25,  1866, 
HERBERT  SPENCER,  Esq.,  London. 

DEAR  SIR:  The  republication  in  this  country  of  your 
various  writings  has  awakened  profound  interest  and  ex- 
erted a  powerful  influence  for  good.  Many  among  us  be- 
lieve that  few  men  in  the  whole  history  of  our  race  have 
had  the  privilege  of  rendering  such  important  services  to 
society.  There  is  a  still  larger  class  here  who,  while  differ- 
ing radically  from  some  of  your  conclusions,  recognize 
with  the  utmost  sympathy  and  admiration  the  noble  and 
humane  spirit  which  penetrates  your  works,  and  own  with 
gratitude  their  intellectual  obligations  to  you. 

The  announcement,  therefore,  that  the  completion  of 
your  philosophical  system  had  been  arrested  from  want  of 


216  Edward  Livingston  You  mans. 

proper  support  has  apprised  your  American  friends  of  a 
possible  loss  to  themselves  and  the  world  too  serious  to  be 
borne  without  an  effort  to  avert  it,  and  it  has  seemed  to 
some  of  them  an  opportunity  for  repaying  in  such  form  as 
they  may  a  portion  of  the  indebtedness  to  you,  which  can 
never  be  entirely  cancelled.  They  have  not  permitted 
themselves  to  doubt  your  friendly  acceptance  of  such  co- 
operation as  they  can  offer  to  insure  the  continuance  of 
your  valuable  labours,  and  they  have  charged  me  with  the 
pleasant  duty  of  informing  you  that  the  sum  of  seven  thou- 
sand dollars  has  been  invested  in  your  name  in  American 
securities  (a  list  of  which  is  inclosed,  and  which  you  may 
either  retain  or  convert  at  your  pleasure),  and  that  they 
have  done  this  not  merely  as  an  expression  of  sincere  re- 
spect and  gratitude  toward  you  personally,  but  also  in  the 
highest  interest  of  liberal  thought  and  civilization. 
With  great  regard,  very  truly  yours, 

ROBERT  B.  MINTURN. 

DERBY,  Augiist  2,  1866. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Though  my  friend  Mr.  Youmans,  by  ex- 
pressions in  his  letters,  led  me  to  suppose  that  something 
was  to  be  done  in  the  United  States  with  a  view  to  prevent- 
ing the  suspension  of  my  work,  yet  I  was  wholly  unpre- 
pared for  anything  so  generous  as  that  which  I  learn  from 
your  letter  of  June  25th.  In  ignorance  of  the  steps  which 
were  being  taken,  I  had  thought  that  a  revival  and  pos- 
sibly an  extension  of  the  list  of  subscribers  to  my  works 
would  be  attempted,  and,  my  thought  having  taken  this 
direction,  the  unexpected  munificence  of  my  American 
•friends  quite  astonished  me,  as  it  astonished  all  to  whom  I 
have  named  it.  Not  simply  the  act  itself,  but  also  the 
manner  in  which  the  act  has  been  done,  is  extremely  grati- 
fying to  me.  Possibly  you  are  aware  that,  while  on  the 
one  hand  I  had  decided  that  I  ought  not  to  continue  sacri- 
ficing what  little  property  I  possess,  I  had  on  the  other 


Second  and  Third  Visits  to  England.  217 

hand  resolved  not  to  place  myself  in  any  questionable  po- 
sition, and  in  pursuance  of  this  resolve  I  had  negatived 
sundry  proposals  made  here  in  furtherance  of  my  under- 
taking. But  the  course  adopted  by  my  American  friends 
is  one  which  appears  to  give  me  no  alternative,  save  that 
of  yielding.  Already  in  the  case  of  the  profits  accruing 
from  republished  works,  which  I  declined  to  receive  unless 
the  cost  of  the  stereotype  plates  had  been  repaid  to  those 
who  furnished  the  funds,  they  defeated  me  by  saying  that 
if  I  did  not  draw  the  proceeds  they  would  remain  in  Messrs. 
Appletons'  hands;  and  I  foresee  that  were  I  now  to  be  rest- 
ive under  their  kindness  they  would  probably  take  an 
analogous  step.  I  therefore  submit,  and  feel  less  hesita- 
tion in  doing  this  because  the  strong  sympathy  with  my 
aims  which  from  the  beginning  has  been  manifested  in  the 
United  States  makes  me  feel  that  impersonal  rather  than 
personal  considerations  move  those  who  have  acted  in  the 
matter,  and  should  also  guide  me.  Will  you  therefore  be 
so  good  as  to  say  to  all  who  have  joined  in  raising  this  mag- 
nificent gift,  which  more  than  replaces  what  I  have  lost  dur- 
ing the  last  sixteen  years,  that  I  accept  it  as  a  trust  to  be 
used  for  public  ends,  and  that  at  the  same  time  feelings  of 
another  kind  compel  me  to  express  my  gratitude  as  well  as 
my  admiration.  Let  me  add  that  while  the  material  result 
of  their  act  will  be  that  of  greatly  facilitating  my  labours, 
the  approval  conveyed  by  it  in  so  unparalleled  a  way  from 
readers  of  another  nation  cannot  fail  to  be  a  moral  stimu- 
lus and  support  of  great  value  to  me.  Believe  me,  my  dear 
sir,  very  sincerely  yours,  HERBERT  SPENCER. 

ROBERT  B.  MINTURN,  Esq.,  New  York. 

The  effect  of  the  subscription  gathered  by  You- 
mans  was  rather  to  extend  Spencer's  work  than  to 
prevent  the  suspension  which  a  few  months  before 
had  seemed  unavoidable.  It  enabled  him  to  employ 
as  an  amanuensis  and  assistant  a  gentleman  of  univer- 


218  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

sity  education  ;  and,  enjoying  the  increased  demand 
for  his  works  which  Youmans  had  confidently  pre- 
dicted, Mr.  Spencer  next  year  began  to  collect  and 
organize  the  data  since  published  in  his  Descriptive 
Sociology,  engaging  three  assistants  for  that  purpose. 

ABERDOVEY,  WALES,  Attgust  8,  1866. 

MY  DEAR  SISTER  :  When  I  asked  Mr.  Spencer  where  to 
go  in  the  country,  he  replied,  "  To  get  sea  bathing,  some 
fishing,  some  social  excitement,  and  moderate  prices,  Scar- 
borough." I  replied,  "  I  think  we  will  go  there,"  and  so 
intended,  but  lingered  in  London  until  I  received  a  letter 
from  him  in  Derby,  saying  that  he  had  not  yet  heard  from 
his  friends  in  Scotland,  and  might  have  some  days  to  spare, 
so  he  proposed  to  come  to  Scarborough  and  spend  the 
interval.  I  replied  that  I  had  not  gone,  and  next  day  sent 
him  another  note,  proposing  to  meet  him  anywhere  he 
chose  for  a  few  days.  He  named  Chester  as  the  meeting 
place,  and  last  Tuesday,  a  week  since,  as  the  time,  and 
some  place  in  north  Wales  as  the  destination.  WTe  met 
and  started.  I  undertook  to  travel  with  him,  and  broke 
down  the  first  day.  Thursday  I  was  down  sick,  Friday 
miserable  and  unable  to  write  ;  hence,  I  sent  nothing  last 
Saturday.  Seeing  that  I  could  not  stand  much,  he  pro- 
posed that  we  pitch  for  some  place  and  stop.  We  agreed 
upon  Aberdovey,  a  Welsh  watering  place  of  stone  houses 
in  the  water  under  a  high  bank  without  a  tree,  a  thousand 
degrees  below  Perth  Amboy.  The  cholera  report  in  Lon- 
don had  risen  from  three  hundred  to  one  thousand  the 
previous  week,  and  I  thought  Kitty  had  better  come  into 
the  country.  So  I  wrote  to  her  to  join  us  at  this  place, 
which  she  did  last  Saturday,  and  it  is  now  Tuesday. 
There's  not  a  decent  hotel  in  town,  and  so  I  found  a  lodg- 
ing house,  a  stone  affair,  sort  of  like  a  blacksmith  shop, 
where  we  have  three  small  rooms,  and  are  as  comfortable 


Second  and  Third  Visits  to  England.  219 

as  we  can  make  ourselves,  with  but  little  to  get  to  eat  in 
the  town.  My  breaking  down  was  due  to  excessive  fatigue 
— going  into  Greenland-cold  sea  water  to  bathe,  finding 
myself  with  a  little  fever,  and  travelling  back  a  long  dis- 
tance to — Heaven  knows  the  name  of  the  place  where  we 
were  stopping. 

The  wind  was  blowing  a  perfect  tornado  when  we  came 
here  last  Saturday,  and  it  has  kept  it  up  ever  since,  so  that 
I  have  not  been  able  to  go  out  at  all,  except  that  Mr. 
Spencer  and  myself  emerged  Saturday  night  in  the  howling 
wind  to  get  eatables  for  Sunday.  Went  to  what  they  call 
the  market  house  and  called  for  a  piece  of  beef;  the  only 
butcher  said  that  all  the  beef  he  had  was  a  little  lamb, 
of  which  we  bought  a  fore  quarter,  and  one  half  pound 
of  bacon,  also  a  peck  of  peas  and  two  pounds  of  pota- 
toes, also  a  pound  of  butter,  three  pints  of  gooseberries,  a 
pound  of  brown  sugar,  one  half  pound  of  coffee,  and  six 
candles.  We  have  eaten  all  except  the  candles,  and  Kitty 
has  just  gone  out  into  the  gale  to  buy  something  more. 
The  old  Welsh  mother  of  the  house  we  can't  understand ; 
the  daughter  is  quite  an  interesting  girl,  and  waits  on  us. 
Spencer  had  in  his  pocket  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette  of  July 
3d,  with  the  following  paragraph :  "  It  is  stated  in  Amer- 
ican papers  that  Prof.  Youmans  recently  left  that  country 
in  order  to  present  to  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  $5,000  and  a 
valuable  gold  watch  as  a  testimonial  from  his  American 
admirers."  He  told  me  that  his  friends  had  been  dogging 
him  to  publish  the  whole  thing  as  an  act  of  simple  jus- 
tice to  the  Americans.  He  thought  that  the  false  figures 
ought  to  be  corrected,  but  is  very  fearful  that  there  will 
be  too  much  of  a  story  made  about  it.  I  shall  write  a  cor- 
rective note  to  the  Pall  Mall  fellows.  As  you  may  im- 
agine, things  have  not  been  favourable  for  my  work.  Still,  it 
has  been  profitable.  I  have  got  glimpses  of  light  on  many 
things,  which  will  be  helpful  in  the  future.  The  present 


22O  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

occasion,  moreover,  has  turned  out  proximately  suitable 
for  doing  that  little  job  for  brother  Abbot.  Spencer  has 
his  article  with  him,  and  we  are  taking  it  up  point  by  point. 
Spencer  talks,  and  I  am  amanuensis.  I  have  written  eight 
pages  of  foolscap  at  his  dictation  this  morning,  and  have  not 
only  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  Spencer  give  it  to  Abbot 
much  as  Artemus  Ward  says  the  mob  caved  in  the  head  of 
his  wax  figure  of  Judas,  but  I  have  myself  learned  some 
matters  and  things  worth  knowing.  Spencer  doesn't  recede 
or  budge  a  hair,  but  he  interprets. 

We  shall  only  remain  here  this  week.  There  seems  to 
be  about  as  much  cholera  around  here  as  in  London,  and  I 
want  a  little  time  there  before  going  to  the  Association  at 
Nottingham.  Spencer  will  be  there,  if  he  doesn't  get  an 
invitation  to  Scotland. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

POPULAR   EDUCATION,   AND   OTHER   MATTERS. 
1866-1868.     Age,  45-47. 

AFTER  disposing  of  the  Spencer  affair,  Youmans 
devoted  all  his  energies  to  the  work  of  completing 
and  publishing  the  collection  of  essays  entitled  The 
Culture  demanded  by  Modern  Life.  His  chief  ob- 
ject in  this  third  visit  to  England  was  to  bring  out 
this  long-projected  book  *  under  peculiarly  favour- 
able conditions  in  London.  From  time  to  time  he 
had  read  able  essa}rs  and  addresses  bearing  on  this 
topic,  but  they  had  been  published  in  ephemeral  jour- 
nals or  shelved  in  volumes  of  Transactions.  He 
now  proceeded  to  carry  out  his  plan  of  publishing  a 
selection  of  such  essays  by  the  most  eminent  writers 
of  the  day,  with  an  introduction  by  himself,  setting 
forth  the  subject  in  its  widest  relations.  While  en- 
gaged in  this  work  he  came  into  personal  contact  with 
a  good  many  members  of  the  College  of  Preceptors, 
and  was  invited  to  give  them  a  lecture  upon  some 
topic  in  which  they  were  all  directly  interested.  He 
chose  for  his  subject  The  Scientific  Study  of  Human 
Nature,  and  after  delivering  the  lecture  he  inserted  it 
among  the  essays  in  his  book.f  A  pleasant  account  of 

*  It  is  mentioned  in  his  first  letter  to  Mr.  Spencer,  Feb.  23,  1860 ; 
see  above,  p.  106.  f  See  below,  pp.  451-485. 

(221) 


222  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

this,  together  with  some  other  matters  of  interest,  is 
given  in  the  following  letters  to  his  sister: 

LONDON,  July  21,  1866. 

There  are  but  few  boarders  here  at  Mrs.  Langford's, 
which  makes  it  pleasant,  and  I  have  a  separate  room  with 
all  my  books  and  papers,  which  is  very  convenient  for  study. 
The  situation  is  high,  and  up  near  Regent's  Park  and  very 
eligible,  so  I  shall  be  contented  here  a  while.  I  have  been 
thus  far  reading  and  making  references,  and  am  just  now 
beginning  to  write.  The  subject  opens  finely  before  me, 
and  I  hope  I  shall  have  grace  to  do  it  justice.  Spencer 
has  promised  to  look  over  my  argument  when  I  get  it 
ready.  ...  I  had  almost  forgotten  to  say  that  Wislicenus 
and  Fick  (the  latter  a  physiologist  of  Zurich)  have  given 
the  last  annihilating  blow  to  Liebig.  Their  joint  paper 
has  been-  translated,  and  published  in  the  Philosophical 
Journal,  a  copy  of  which,  with  Spencer's  last  number,  I 
have  left  at  Layton's  to  be  sent  to  New  York  and  forwarded 
to  you  by  post.  It  will  leave  here  the  last  of  next  week. 
I  am  going  to  write  to  Wislicenus,  asking  him  the  privilege 
of  making  a  sketch  of  his  American  experience  preliminary 
to  his  statement  of  his  researches,  for  publication  at  home. 
He  has  proved  that  animal  power  is  due  to  the  combustion 
of  the  hydrocarbons  in  the  muscles,  the  heat  produced 
being  converted  into  mechanical  force ! 

LONDON,  September  i,  1866. 

We  got  here  yesterday  afternoon,  and  your  letter  of 
August  i4th  came  in  the  evening.  I  was  greatly  rejoiced 
to  learn  that  you  had  all  gone  a-fishing;  I  hope  you  will 
follow  it  up.  The  only  way  to  strengthen  any  tendency, 
faculty,  or  habit,  is  through  its  own  exercise.  You  can't 
infer  its  propriety  and  then  enter  upon  it.  It  is  a  great 
"victory  over  the  inane  "  to  learn  to  fish.  Pray  go  often. 
I  shall  when  I  return.  I  am  hard  at  work,  pushed  and 


Popular  Education,  and  Other  Matters.          223 

racked  with  thinking,  and  have  a  world  to  do  by  mid- 
October,  but  I  believe  in  my  book.  I  see  Hedge  is  out  in 
the  September  Atlantic  (which  I  shall  get),  on  University 
Reform.  This  is  the  subject  of  the  age.  England  is  full 
of  it,  and  if  it  were  not  for  the  infernal  clangour  of  poli- 
tics America  would  be,  and  it  certainly  will.  Our  politics 
are  now  intense  because  we  have  nothing  else  to  think  of. 
England  has  politics  and  religion,  and  that  diminishes  the 
intensity.  , 

September  8th. — I  have  arranged  with  Macmillan  to  pub- 
'lish  my  book,  and  he  will  begin  stereotyping  next  week. 
There  is  a  sharp  attack  in  this  morning's  Times  on  the 
Classical  Dogma.  The  time  is  ripe  for  the  work  I  am 
preparing.  Huxley  has  sent  me  rough  proofs  of  the  Physi- 
ology up  to  the  2o6th  page,  which  I  will  forward  in  small 
quantities.  Ask  Jay  to  advise  me  of  what  he  receives,  that 
I  may  know  if  any  are  lost.  I  am  proposing  to  leave  about 
the  middle  of  October,  or  the  moment  I  get  through  writing. 

September  28th. — We  dined  at  Huxley's  last  night. 
Spencer  and  a  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Young  were  there,  and  Frances 
Power  Cobbe;  and  Frances  is  a  power,  or,  at  all  events,  a 
bulk  in  the  land !  Huxley  is  in  a  bad  way ;  he  is  un- 
doubtedly failing  from  overwork.  He  is  now,  at  the  close 
of  his  holiday,  just  as  at  its  beginning,  and  Spencer  is 
worried  about  him.  .  .  .  After  the  party  I  finished  my  lec- 
ture at  three  this  morning,  and  was  so  excited  that  I  did 
not  get  a  wink  of  sleep  till  five  o'clock.  Spencer  leaves 
town  to-day  at  two  for  a  fortnight's  absence,  and  I  ar- 
ranged to  call  to-day  at  eleven  to  read  my  production  to 
him.  With  my  tail  feathers  spread  and  in  a  state  of  in- 
finite complacency  I  went,  and  returned  trailing  my  glories 
in  the  infernal  London  mud. 

Poor  man  !  What  could  he  do  ?  There  was  but  one 
thing  to  do,  and  he  did  it,  you  had  better  believe.  Faith- 
ful indee4  are  the  cruelties  of  a  friend.  My  lecture  was 


224  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

fairly  slaughtered.  I  had  such  nice  authorities  for  every- 
thing. What  are  "  authorities  "  to  Herbert  Spencer  ?  The 
pigs  went  to  the  wrong  market  this  time. 

"  A  little  too  much  effort  at  fine  writing  " — forty-five 
pages.  "  You  have  lost  your  point  at  the  fifth  page  and 
not  recovered  it.  Why,  I  thought  you  wished  to  make  a 
sharp  presentation  of  science  in  its  bearings  upon  the  study 
of  human  nature,  and  you  seem  to  have  entered  upon  a 
systematic  treatise  on  physiology  interlarded  with  bad 
psychology."  The  unfeeling  wretch !  "  Strike  out  half, 
put  the  rest  in  type  and  work  it  up,"  was  the  final  injunc- 
tion. Well,  striking  out  will  be  better  than  building  up. 
Easier,  at  all  events.  The  fact  is,  I  had  overworked  the 
details — that  was  the  only  real  difficulty.  I  had  not  read 
it  over,  but  had  passed  it  over  to  Kitty  to  copy,  batch  by 
batch.  I  read  it  first  to-day,  and  hardly  needed  telling 
that  it  was  too  long  and  needed  compressing.  I  shall  re- 
shape it  and  read  it  the  loth,  before  you  get  this.  But 
there  is  one  thing:  I  shall  not  work  as  I  have  done — an- 
other month  would  lay  me  out.  I  will  not  work  nights 
when  I  can't  sleep  daytimes.  I  am  very  well,  but  jaded.  I 
fear  justice  to  my  enterprise  will  require  me  to  appro- 
priate the  rest  of  October  to  it.  The  book  will  hardly  fail 
to  prove  valuable.  I  see  nobody,  but  drudge  on  day  by 
day,  thinking  ever  of  home,  and  longing  for  the  moment  of 
return.  The  fogs  have  begun  to  come,  and  I  have  lighted 
candles  to  read  by  in  the  daytime. 

The  next  letter  is  dated  from  Mr.  Spencer's  new 
apartments,  at  37  and  38  Queen's  Gardens,  Bayswater, 
October  i3th : 

The  lecture  on  the  Scientific  Study  of  Human  Nature 
came  off  as  per  appointment  at  the  room  in  Queen's  Square, 
where  you  heard  Hodgson.  I  had  got  hurried  proofs  of  it, 
and  it  would  take  an  hour  and  a  half  to  read  it,  but  as  only 


Popular  Education,  and  Other  Matters.          22$ 

an  hour  or  less  was  all  that  could  be  allowed,  I  was  com- 
pelled hastily  to  scratch  it,  and  I  overcut  it.  Kitty  went 
with  me.  Just  before  I  began,  in  came  Tyndall.  I  thought 
I  saw  through  that  dodge  in  a  moment.  Spencer  is  out  of 
town,  has  been  away  for  a  fortnight,  expected  to  return,  I 
am  told,  to-night,  and  as  he  was  evidently  solicitous  about 
the  result  he  got  Tyndall  to  go.  Whichever  way  it  be,  it 
was  fortunate,  and  I  am  certainly  much  obliged  to  him  for 
his  consideration,  for  the  meat  was  too  strong  for  the 
babes.  They  were  restless,  and  as  I  said  thing  after  thing, 
a  dozen  pens  sprang  convulsively  to  paper,  to  note  them 
down  and  blow  them  up.  There  was  the  closest  attention, 
and  at  all  events  I  had  them  in  hand.  At  the  close  there 
was  cordial  applause — as  usual,  I  suppose.  A  gentleman 
then  arose,  and  said  he  was  attracted  to  the  meeting  by  the 
announcement  of  my  name,  having  read  a  very  remark- 
able argument  in  the  shape  of  an  introduction  to  a  work 
on  chemistry  lent  him  by  his  friend  Dr.  Farr  (to  whom 
I  had  given  a  copy),  and  he  said,  "  I  was,  therefore,  less 
taken  by  surprise  at  the  paper  we  have  just  heard  than 
most  of  you  have  evidently  been."  After  a  very  pleasant 
and  excellent  address,  in  which  he  said  Locke  had  laid 
down  the  true  view  of  the  basis  of  education  two  centuries 
since,  which,  if  followed  out,  would  have  produced  the  most 
beneficent  results,  he  sat  down  and  Tyndall  arose.  He 
made  an  exceedingly  neat  and  happy  address,  into  the  very 
notch  of  the  case.  He  put  the  plaster  on  large  and  thick 
and  close,  as  he  best  of  all  men  knows  how  to  do,  and  the 
consequence  was  that  all  subsequent  remarks  were  but 
adding  lesser  patches.  One  good  old  gentleman  of  the 
old  school  did  not  really  seem  to  see  that  there  were  yet 
the  materials  of  a  new  science  of  human  nature,  but  hoped 
there  would  be.  The  president  wound  up  with  a  little 
speech,  demurring  somewhat  to  the  strictures  on  the  pres- 
ent spirit  of  teachers,  but  saying  frankly  that  the  address 


226  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

was  beyond  doubt  the  ablest,  and  solidest,  and  most  im- 
portant that  had  ever  been  delivered  before  the  College 
of  Preceptors.  Tyndall  escaped  before  I  could  speak  to 
him,  but  I  dropped  a  note  to  him  next  morning,  thanking 
him  for  his  kind  consideration  in  coming,  for  his  too  par- 
tial remarks,  and  for  his  shielding  me  from  the  little  hail- 
storm which  I  should  have  undoubtedly  experienced  other- 
wise. He  replied,  saying:  "I  quite  expected  the  little  hail- 
storm, and  was  astonished  to  find  what  you  said  (for  the 
view  was  very  strong  for  such  a  place)  so  heartily  appre- 
ciated. Believe  me,  when  I  say  from  my  very  heart,  the 
paper  surprised  me  as  much  as  it  delighted  me." 

October  2oth. — It  turned  out  to  be  a  mistake  about  Spen- 
cer sending  Tyndall  to  the  lecture.  Spencer  was  under  a 
wrong  impression  about  the  time,  and  says  he  intended  to 
be  there  himself.  Tyndall  and  Huxley  were  invited  the 
day  before.  Huxley  said,  had  it  not  been  for  a  previous 
engagement  he  should  have  been  there. 

October  2jth. — I  have  only  to-day  at  twelve  sent  the  last 
revise  of  my  lecture  to  the  printer;  in  making  it  there  has 
been  a  large  loss  of  power,  owing  to  my  solicitude.  I  was 
editing  the  work  and  thrusting  a  discourse  of  my  own 
among  the  highest  names,  and  assuming  the  largest  and 
most  difficult  topic  of  all  to  treat.  Besides,  I  was  to  submit 
it  to  the  coldest  and  keenest  critic  in  the  world,  who  cared 
not  tuppence  for  anything  but  the  facts.  I  was  to  write  on 
his  own  topic — his  special  topic,  and  where  he  rejects  all 
the  physiology  of  psychology  to  be  gathered  in  books,  and 
doesn't  know  what  an  "  authority  "  is.  It  has  been  hard 
work,  but  I  have  at  last  got  the  epithet  "capital"  out  of 
him,  and  that  without  asking,  as  you  may  well  understand. 
I  hoped  to  send  you  the  sheets  to-day,  and  sat  up  all  night 
nearly,  last  night,  hoping  to  get  them  ready;  but  Spencer 
could  only  finish  the  reading  this  morning  too  late,  and  I 
have  had  to  give  it  up.  The  Introduction  I  care  less  about 


Popular  Education,  and  Other  Matters.          227 

in  this  country,  and  am  not  going  to  have  it  stereotyped 
at  any  rate,  as  the  American  argument  must  be  very  differ- 
ent. I  shall  do  what  I  can  with  it  and  let  it  go. 

The  "  highest  names  "  to  which  allusion  is  here 
made  were  those  of  Liebig,  Tyndall,  Henfrey,  Hux- 
ley, Herschel,  and  Paget,  whose  essays  were  gathered 
together  in  Youmans's  volume,  published  under  the 
general  title,  The  Culture  demanded  by  Modern  Life. 
After  his  return  to  America,  late  in  the  autumn  of 
1866,  he  added  a  contribution  from  Dr.  Draper,  and 
summed  up  his  own  views  in  the  Introduction  on 
Mental  Discipline  in  Education,  which  was  perhaps 
the  most  finished  piece  of  work  that  ever  came  from 
his  pen.  It  is  reprinted  entire  in  the  present  volume.* 
The  book,  published  in  the  spring  of  1867,  was  re- 
ceived with  favour;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
its  contents,  in  this  connected  form,  were  vastly  more 
influential  for  good  than  in  the  separate  and  narrow 
fields  of  their  original  issue. 

The  following  extracts  from  letters  have  interest  in 
connection  with  this  book,  as  also  with  other  matters, 
personal  and  general : 

37  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  W.,  January  14,  1867. 

MY  DEAR  4TouMANS :  I  have  been  looking  for  a  letter 
for  some  little  time  past,  telling  me  how  you  are  going  on ; 
but  I  suppose  lecturing  has  carried  you  away  into  the  West, 
and  is  absorbing  all  your  time. 

Macmillan  delayed  for  a  long  time  the  issue  of  your 
volume  of  Essays.  Why,  I  don't  know,  unless  business 
policy  dictated  the  delay.  We  did  not  get  our  respective 
copies  until  the  beginning  of  January.  The  volume  looks 

*  See  below,  pp.  399-450. 


228  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

very  well,  and  is  likely,  I  think,  to  do  a  great  deal  of  good. 
Dr.  Hodgson,  whom  I  lately  met,  expressed  great  satisfac- 
tion with  it.  He  said  your  essay  would  have  delighted 
George  Combe.  I  suppose  you  have  already  printed  off 
the  first  American  edition. 

SARATOGA  SPRINGS,  January  20,  1867. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  I  have  been  very  little  in  New  York 
since  my  return,  and  know  nothing  of  the  state  of  the  book 
trade.  General  business  is  active,  but  prices  are  enormously 
inflated.  Shrewd  men  say  it  will  be  impossible  to  get  back 
to  stability  except  through  widespread  financial  ruin.  One 
of  the  most  discouraging  symptoms  of  the  times  is  the  in- 
sane and  universal  clamour  for  exorbitant  protection.  Pro- 
tection, even  to  prohibition,  is  now  the  cry  with  many. 
There  are  various  causes  for  this.  Some  think  it  is  the 
only  defence  from  the  impending  financial  ruin. 

The  sentiment  of  nationality  or  patriotism,  which  has 
become  a  cant  since  the  war,  favours  protective  measures ; 
and  the  deep  feeling  of  hostility  toward  England,  which  per- 
vades almost  the  whole  mass  of  the  people,  which  talks 
continually  of  British  free  trade,  and  refuses  to  think  that 
anything  but  selfishness  can  come  from  that  quarter,  has 
also  a  powerful  influence.  The  Free-trade  League  has  up- 
hill work  of  it. 

Gold  has  fallen  to  130,  although  now  rising  again.  I 
presume  it  will  return  to  that  point  again.  As  you  have 
dipped  considerably  into  American  securities,  would  it  not 
be  well — at  all  events  safer — to  convert  what  may  become 
due  to  you  into  an  available  shape  ?  Please  indicate  what 
you  would  like  in  the  matter.  I  leave  to-morrow  for  the 
West  on  a  six-weeks'  lecturing  absence,  and  dread  it  in- 
tensely, as  the  country  is  submerged  in  deep  snow  and  the 
weather  extremely  cold.  My  wife  is  in  New  York,  and  will 
remain  there  until  my  return. 


Popular  Education,  and  Other  Matters.         229 

37  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  W.,  February  23,  1867. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  I  think  you  are  right  in  your  sug- 
gestion as  to  the  impolicy  of  further  investment  in  Ameri- 
can securities  for  the  present.  Any  balance  that  may  be 
due  to  me  from  the  forthcoming  account  may  as  well,  there- 
fore, be  transmitted  to  me  here. 

March  nth. — You  were  saying  when  over  here  that  you 
thought  the  time  was  coming  when  we  might  recommence 
the  issue  of  the  serial  in  the  United  States.  I  doubt,  how- 
ever, whether  it  would  be  worth  while.  Our  subscription 
list  here  has  just  been  gone  through  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  a  peremptory  reminder  to  those  in  arrear.  I  find 
there  is  not  far  short  of  two  hundred  pounds  sterling  due. 
Possibly  the  intimation  that  has  been  given,  that  no  further 
numbers  will  be  sent  to  those  whose  last  two  subscriptions 
are  unpaid,  will  have  its  effect.  But  I  foresee  that,  if  things 
go  on  as  they  have  been  doing,  it  will  be  needful  to  give 
up  the  issue  in  parts  by  the  time  the  Psychology  is  com- 
pleted. The  trouble  and  loss  will  no  longer  be  compen- 
sated by  the  gain.  You  will  be  startled  in  America,  as 
people  are  being  startled  here,  by  the  marvellously  sudden 
change  of  opinion  that  is  taking  place  in  our  political  world. 
The  phenomenon  reminds  one  of  that  which  takes  place 
with  ice  when  much  below  the  freezing  point.  You  go  on 
raising  its  temperature  for  a  long  time  without  any  appre- 
ciable effect,  and  then  all  at  once  it  begins  to  thaw  rapidly. 
Doubtless  in  the  same  way  a  change  has  been  going  on 
here  without  producing  any  sign  ;  and  now  it  is  making 
itself  visible  all  at  once. 

I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  of  your  doings,  and  also  of  your 
plans  for  the  summer.  I  hope  we  shall  be  able  so  to  man- 
age as  to  have  a  sojourn  in  Paris  together. 

Ever  yours  truly,  HERBERT  SPENCER. 


230  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

NEW  YORK,  March  77,  1867. 

DEAR  SISTER  :  I  am  here  at  the  club,*  where  I  have  a 
warm,  pleasant  room  to  work  in.  It  is  now  four,  and  I 
have  done  an  excellent  day's  work.  We  have  had  a  diabol- 
ical storm,  and  the  snow  is  two  feet  deep.  I  have  dashed 
off  a  rough  scheme  of  study,  a  rude  curriculum,  which  I 
will  transcribe.  If  you  can  help  me  on  it  please  do  so. 

1.  Home  and  Primary  Education,  in  which  are  to  be  ac- 
quired correct  habits  of  expression,  familiarity  with  the 
properties  of  common  things  by  the  intelligent  employment 
of  the  object  method,  reading,  drawing,  writing,  elemen- 
tary numbers,  elementary  form,  etc. 

2.  The  Discipline  of  the  Physical  and  Mathematical  Sci- 
ences— arithmetic,  geometry,  natural  philosophy,  chemistry 
— establishing  systematic  habits  of  continuous  attention,  of 
observation,  induction,  deduction,  and  verification  of  truths. 
Familiarity  with  the  conception  of  cause,  law,  necessary 
truth,  and  with  the  history  of  the  growth  of  physical  and 
mathematical  sciences.     Thus  preparing  for 

3.  The  Discipline  of  the  Biological  Sciences — botany,  zool- 
ogy, physiology,  geology.     Extension  of  the  idea  of  law 
and  sensation  into  the  departments  of  life  and  familiariz- 
ing with  the  conditions  of  inquiry  and  methods  of  reason- 
ing in  this  department  of  thought,  with  the  history  of  the 
growth  of  these  departments   of   knowledge.     This   is    a 
preparation  for 

4.  The  Discipline  of  the  Psychological  or   Representative 
Sciences — mental    philosophy,   logic    philosophy.      Forming 
the   threefold    basis   for   the    systematic    study  of    litera- 
ture, history,   ethnology,   social  science,  government,   and 
morality. 

This  division  is  on  the  basis  of  discipline,  as  I  shall  be 

*  The  Century  Club,  in  its  pleasant  and  ever-to-be-regretted  old  home 
on  Fifteenth  Street. 


Popular  Education,  and  Other  Matters.          231 

able  to  show  that  the  order  of  ideas  in  these  four  stages 
gives  a  progressive  training,  and  completes  the  circle  of 
mental  requirements  in  this  respect.  But  I  am  tired,  and 

so  good-bye. 

NEW  YORK,  March  23,  1867. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  I  send  you  the  Atlantic  to-day. 
Holmes  has  reached  the  philosophy  of  hysterics  in  No.  4 
of  the  Guardian  Angel,  and  will  treat  the  psychological 
sequelae  of  its  paroxysms  in  the  next  number.  Fiske  deals 
with  University  Reform  in  a  very  quiet  but  able  article — 
as  liberal  as  could  be  expected  from  a  devotee  of  philol- 
ogy. His  argument  does  not  touch  the  case  as  it  stands 
in  my  mind,  but  its  suggestions  require  careful  pondering. 
Fiske  is  strong,  but  a  little  pedantic  on  the  lingual  side.* 
I  see  that  Mill  makes  an  unqualified  indorsement  of  Greek 
and  Latin.  I  shall  pay  him  my  respects  and  include  Fiske. 
By-the-by,  Mill  is  the  champion  of  the  classics  here  now. 
He  is  thrown  in  everybody's  face  who  questions  tradition. 
There  are  many  excellent  things  in  his  address,  but  what 
he  says  about  the  classics  won't  hold  water. 

As  for  what  lies  before  me  this  summer,  Omniscience 
alone  knows  it !  I  should  be  glad  to  come  over,  but  fear 
it  will  be  impossible. 

*  He  means  that  I  am  too  fond  of  Greek  and  Latin,  and  attach  too 
high  a  value  to  the  study  of  those  languages  and  to  philological  training 
generally.  On  this  point  I  have  never  been  able  to  agree  entirely  with 
Spencer  and  Youmans,  owing  perhaps  to  peculiarities  of  early  training 
and  the  bias  resulting  therefrom.  From  childhood  I  was  steeped  in  Greek 
and  Latin,  and  read  ancient  authors  with  a  zest  which  time  has  done  noth- 
ing to  lessen.  Naturally,  therefore,  as  to  the  educational  value  of  the 
classics,  I  was  inclined  to  agree  with  Mill  in  his  Inaugural  Address  at  the 
University  of  St.  Andrews,  to  which  Youmans  here  refers  ;  and  with  such 
views  as  those  of  the  late  Prof.  W.  F.  Allen,  of  the  University  of  Wis- 
consin, in  his  Essays  and  Monographs,  Boston,  1890,  pp.  155-164.  The 
article  of  mine  referred  to  was  Considerations  on  University  Reform,  in 
Atlantic  Monthly,  April,  1867,  reprinted  in  Darwinism  and  Other  Essays, 
revised  edition,  Boston,  1885. 


232  Edward  Livingston   You  mans. 

37  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  W.,  April  <?,  1867. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  I  issued  the  closing  number  of 
the  Biology,  or  rather  double  number  (it  contains  ten 
sheets),  on  the  3oth  of  March,  just  managing,  by  a  good 
deal  of  pressure,  to  save  the  date.  The  bound  volume  is 
advertised,  and  I  expect  to  get  some  copies  to-day. 

To-morrow  I  shall  commence  the  revision  of  First 
Principles.  I  had  intended  to  make  one  or  two  replies  to 
criticisms  in  the  first  part,  but  have  been  dissuaded  by  the 
Leweses  from  doing  so.  Huxley  is  just  through  his  Hun- 
terian  course,  and  is  much  better  than  was  to  be  expected, 
for  he  has  been  in  a  very  shaky  state  during  the  last  three 
months  under  a  great  pressure  of  work.  Tyndall,  too,  has 
been  doing  too  much,  and  has  to  pull  up.  He  is  urgent  to 
get  out  his  volume  on  Sound,  and,  as  usual,  has  been  be- 
trayed into  overwork  by  his  eagerness. 

April  ifth. — The  inclosure  contained  in  your  letter* 
was  a  considerable  surprise  to  me.  I  had  anticipated  some- 
thing very  much  less.  What  a  wonderful  steward  you  are ! 
I  never  dreamt  a  few  years  ago  of  any  such  results  arising, 
and  had  it  not  been  for  you  it  is  clear  that  no  such  results 
would  ever  have  arisen. 

Your  remark  as  to  the  use  that  is  being  made  of  Mill's 
name  completely  fulfils  the  prophecy  I  made  to  him.  I 
told  him  that  I  regretted  to  see  the  weight  of  his  authority 
given  to  a  side  that  is  already,  to  say  the  least,  far  too 
strong,  and  that  the  result  would  be  that  the  classicists 
would  appropriate  all  he  said  in  their  favour,  and  ignore  all 
he  said  against  them. 

I  regret  that  you  are  not  thinking  of  coming,  having 
counted  on  our  having  a  "good  time"  at  Paris  together. 
As  you  hold  out  no  hopes  of  this,  I  think  of  making  my 
trip  to  Paris  pretty  soon — probably  on  the  2pth  of  this 

*  The  reference  is  to  the  check  for  royalty  on  sales. 


Popular  Education,  and  Other  Matters.         233 

month.     I  shall  take  some  work  with  me,  and  most  likely 
stay  about  a  fortnight. 

June  7th. — It  may  be  that  you  are  wise  in  not  coming 
to  the  Paris  Exhibition.  I  went  for  a  fortnight,  and  came 
back  before  the  week  was  out.  Perpetual  sight-seeing  soon 
became  a  weariness,  and  I  was  heartily  glad  to  get  back. 
Matters  were  made  worse  by  the  extremely  hot  weather, 
which  set  in  just  as  I  went  there. 

I  have  decided  within  these  few  days  to  use  a  specific 
title  for  the  whole  series  of  volumes  that  I  am  issuing. 
Originally,  when  drawing  up  the  programme,  I  contem- 
plated doing  so,  and  was  very  nearly  using  the  title  Deduc- 
tive Philosophy ;  but  I  was  dissuaded,  and  finally  fell  back 
upon  the  indefinite  title  of  a  System  of  Philosophy.  There 
are  decided  evils,  however,  in  the  absence  of  a  distinctive 
name,  and  I  have  had  these  evils  just  now  thrust  before 
me  afresh.  At  the  close  of  his  new  edition  of  his  History 
of  Philosophy  Lewes  persists  in  claiming  me  as  one  of  his 
school,  saying  that  "  Mr.  Spencer  is  unequivocally  a  posi- 
tive philosopher,  however  he  may  repudiate  being  con- 
sidered a  disciple  of  Comte,"  and  he  goes  on  to  close  his 
book  in  the  next  paragraph  by  saying,  "  Am  I  claiming  too 
much  for  the  Positive  Philosophy  in  claiming  for  it  what- 
ever the  future  may  produce  ?  "  Now  as — whether  Lewes 
intends  it  or  not — the  Positive  Philosophy  will  continue  to  be 
understood  as  the  philosophy  of  Comte,  and  as  I  so  distinct- 
ly repudiate  the  philosophy  of  Comte,  it  is  needful  to  take 
some  step  to  prevent  the  confusion.  So  long  as  there  is  no 
other  title  in  use  to  express  a  philosophy  formed  of  organ- 
ized scientific  knowledge,  one  cannot  expect  people  to 
discriminate.  Another  title,  therefore,  is  evidently  extreme- 
ly desirable,  and  will,  I  think,  in  many  respects  yield  posi- 
tive as  well  as  negative  advantages.  I  have  decided  upon 
the  title  Synthetic  Philosophy,  which,  on  the  whole,  seems 
the  most  descriptive.  I  am  intending  to  make  the  issue  of 
ii 


234  Edward  Livingston  Yonmans. 

this  second  edition  of  First  Principles  the  occasion  for 
introducing  it,  and  propose  that  each  successive  volume 
shall  bear  this  general  title  on  its  back  in  addition  to  its 
special  title. 

June  26th. — We  are  about  to  give  a  public  breakfast 
here  to  Garrison.  Bright  is  to  be  in  the  chair,  and  the  ad- 
dress is  to  be  moved  by  the  Duke  of  Argyle  and  seconded 
by  Earl  Russell  (probably),  and  also  by  John  Mill.  I  am 
one  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangement. 

The  second  edition  of  First  Principles  is  working  out 
very  satisfactorily — even  more  satisfactorily  than  I  had 
anticipated.  In  its  reorganized  form  it  will  be  extremely 
coherent  all  through ;  the  thread  of  the  argument  will  be 
unbroken,  and  it  will,  I  think,  have  the  obvious  character 

of  completeness. 

DERBY,  July  9,  1867. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  Williams  and  Norgate  the  other 
day  ordered  a  supply  of  Biology,  Volume  I,  of  which  their 
bound  stock  was  out.  On  sending  an  order  to  the  printers, 
the  answer  returned  was  that  they  had  none.  My  account 
with  them  showed  that  there  remained  in  their  hands  thirty- 
three  unbound  copies,  and  they  admit  that  the  evidence 
shows  it.  They  cannot  be  found,  however. 

Please  without  delay  send  the  stereotype  plates.  Do  not 
delay  to  print  any  more  copies  before  sending  them,  for  as  fast 
as  the  printing  of  the  new  supply  goes  on  I  will  have  a 
duplicate  set  of  plates  made  and  sent  to  you. 

Ever  yours  truly,  HERBERT  SPENCER. 

SARATOGA  SPRINGS,  July  jo,  1867. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER:  Upon  the  reception  of  your  letter 
I  took  the  next  train  for  New  York  to  do  myself  what  could 
not  be  trusted  to  others.  There  was  reluctance,  almost  re- 
sistance, to  sending  the  plates.  The  cause  was  this:  after 
having  made  two  mistakes,  first  in  issuing  my  own  book, 
and  then  Maudsley's,  in  midsummer,  I  had  stopped  the 


Popular  Education,  and  Other  Matters.          235 

Biology,  which  was  a  little  behind  them,  designing  to  be 
all  ready  with  it  September  ist.  Hence,  when  I  gave  the 
order  to  return  the  plates,  I  was  met  by  the  statement 
that  there  were  but  one  hundred  copies  of  Volume  I  re- 
maining, and  it  would  not  do  to  publish  Volume  II  with- 
out a  full  supply  of  the  first ;  and  as  it  would  take  a  long 
time  to  get  the  plates  back,  and  would  be  attended  with 
considerable  expense  of  transit,  they  insisted  that  the  bet- 
ter plan  would  be  to  take  the  duplicates  here,  which  could 
be  done  in  twenty  days  for  three  hundred  dollars.  I  re- 
fused to  entertain  the  idea,  and  by  driving  up  the  printer 
and  bullying  the  box-maker  I  got  the  plates  ready  for  the 
shipper  the  next  day  at  noon.  I  intended  to  have  seen 
them  on  board  the  steamer,  but  was  taken  ill,  and  had  to 
leave  for  home.  I  know,  however,  that  they  started  for 
the  ship,  and  I  believe  they  are  now  on  their  way,  but  I 
should  be  easier  if  I  knew. 

I  need  not  urge  the  utmost  dispatch,  as  you  see  the 
situation.  The  change  of  title  is  desirable,  and  the  one  you 
have  hit  upon  fortunate.  But  the  reasons  you  offer  for  tak- 
ing the  step  compel  me  to  suggest  that  if  it  can  be  avoided 
it  will  be  undesirable  to  reopen  the  Comte  discussion.  I 
have  myself  never  doubted  the  wisdom  of  publishing  the 
Classification,  but  that  is  by  no  means  the  universal  opinion. 
Your  original  letter  disclaiming  Comtism  had  a  wide  cir- 
culation in  this  country,  and  was  generally  felt  to  be  oppor- 
tune, appropriate,  and  satisfactory.  But  when  the  pam- 
phlet appeared  many  of  your  friends  said,  "  Mr.  Spencer's 
work  will  vindicate  itself  and  find  its  true  place.  We  are 
sorry  to  see  him  so  apparently  sensitive  about  these  early 
misapprehensions  of  it."  You  have  an  antagonism  upon 
this  question  with  your  friends  the  Leweses,  while  Mr. 
Lewes  is  engaged  in  the  business  of  weighing  and  measur- 
ing philosophers.  May  not  this  circumstance  have  had  a 
tendency  to  keep  the  subject  alive,  if  not  to  exaggerate 


236  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

it  in  your  own  mind  ?  I  think  a  third  reference  to  your 
differences  with  Comte,  especially  on  the  occasion  of  your 
adoption  of  a  new  title  for  your  system,  would  afford  great 
facility  for  misinterpretation  ;  and  in  the  preface  to  the 
new  edition  of  First  Principles,  in  explaining  the  reasons 
for  revision  of  title,  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  a  minimum  recog- 
nition of  Comte.  I  incline  to  think  that  there  is  a  good 
deal  in  this,  but  you  know  best. 

I  send  you  two  notices  of  my  own  book  by  Fiske,  clever 
but  partial.*  Mr.  Mill  has  unwittingly  done  the  most  atro- 
cious thing  for  the  cause  of  real  improvement  in  this  coun- 
try that  any  living  man  could  have  done.  The  whole  theo- 
logical world  are  in  ecstasies  over  his  performance  at  St. 
Andrew's  as  an  unanswerable  argument  for  the  way  things 
are.  All  he  says  for  science  goes  for  less  than  nothing — is 
never  referred  to,  and  all  his  unqualified  claims  for  the 
classics  are  borne  on  the  wings  of  the  newspapers  to  the 
remotest  part  of  the  land. 

The  presidents  of  all  the  colleges  in  the  land  are  re- 
hashing his  classical  arguments  in  their  this  year's  ad- 
dresses, and  scattering  them  broadcast  and  throwing  up 
their  hats  at  a  new  and  unexpected  accession  to  their 
forces,  to  which  they  must  know  they  are  not  justly  entitled. 
The  standard  of  classical  attainment  upon  which  Mill  in- 
sists (and  insists  that  it  shall  be  general)  crowds  out  every- 
thing else,  and  makes  futile  all  talk  about  the  educational 
claims  of  science.  The  Catholic  organ  warns  its  clergy 
against  commending  the  Culture  demanded  by  Modern 
Life,  and  the  Protestant  theologians  recommend  the  dif- 
fusion of  Mill's  classical  argument  as  an  antidote  to  it. 

The  worst  difficulty  about  it  is  that  the  theological 
party  is  skilfully  working  it  as  a  gain  of  authority,  and 
Mill's  name  is  so  potent  that  the  opposite  party  has  us  at 

*  I.  e.,  too  much  in  favour  of  Greek  and  Latin  ?  Or,  more  likely,  in 
his  excessive  modesty  he  meant  that  I  praised  his  work  too  highly. 


Popular  Education,  and  Other  Matters.          237 

an  enormous  disadvantage.  Right  here  in  Saratoga,  for 
example,  they  are  organizing  a  free  high  school  to  be  sup- 
ported entirely  by  public  taxes;  the  clergy  lead  in  the 
movement,  and  demand  that  the  institution  shall  be  co- 
ordinated with  our  college  system  and  arranged  upon  a 
classical  basis  of  Latin  and  Greek ;  and  if  a  person  opens 
his  mouth  in  protest  he  is  immediately  knocked  down  with 
Mill's  classical  argument,  and  that,  too,  by  those  people 
who  have  never  read  another  line  of  his  writings  and  a  year 
ago  would  as  soon  have  quoted  Voltaire  as  Mill.  Somehow 
and  by  somebody  that  argument  must  be  answered.  If 
anything  appears  in  England  that  has  any  value  as  a  criti- 
cism of  it,  I  will  be  greatly  obliged  if  you  will  send  it  to 
me.  But  I  am  wearying  you.  My  wife  and  sister  join  me 
in  expressions  of  kind  and  sympathizing  regard. 

37  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  W.,  July  20,  1867. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  People's  blunders  are  perpetually 
entailing  on  me  all  kinds  of  trouble  and  expense.  A  con- 
siderable percentage  of  my  time  is  taken  up  in  rectifying 
them.  The  last  is  a  serious  one.  The  statement  on  the 
part  of  printer  and  binder  that  they  had  no  stock  of 
Biology,  Vol.  I,  has  turned  out  to  be  a  mistake  on  the  part 
of  the  binder,  who  has  discovered  that  he  had  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  copies.  Thus  my  hurried  order  to  send 
off  the  stereotype  plates  at  once  will  prove  to  be  a  need- 
less and  unfortunate  one.  If  you  have  a  sufficient  stock  to 
last  two  or  three  months  it  will  not  matter,  as  the  duplicate 
stereotype  plates  can  be  at  once  executed  and  sent  to  you. 
Of  course,  if  the  plates  have  not  been  dispatched  before 
this  reaches  you,  you  will  retain  them. 

I  leave  town  for  the  season  in  the  course  of  a  few  days, 
and  shall  be  at  various  places,  mainly  in  Scotland.  I  shall, 
however,  keep  Miss  Shickle  informed  as  to  my  whereabouts, 
so  that  you  may  address  to  me  at  37  Queen's  Gardens,  which, 
indeed,  will  now  be  my  permanent  address. 


238  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

I  received  the  other  day — sent,  I  suppose,  by  you, 
though  I  did  not  see  the  address — a  copy  of  No.  i  of  the 
Journal  of  Speculative  Philosophy,  containing  a  long  criti- 
cism on  me  from  a  Hegelian  point  of  view.  You  named  it, 
I  fancy,  some  time  ago.  It  has  some  sharpness  here  and 
there,  but  I  am  not  conscious  of  being  hurt  by  it. 

ARDTONISH  TOWER,  MORVEN,  September  7,  1867. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  i  I  regret  that  you  should  have 
been  put  to  so  much  trouble  about  the  sending  off  the 
stereos,  of  the  Biology — the  more  so  as  it  has  turned  out, 
as  you  have  since  learned,  to  be  needless. 

I  gave  orders  for  the  restereotyping  to  be  immediately 
commenced,  and  it  is  now  in  progress.  You  will  probably 
have  the  duplicate  set  of  plates  by  the  time  you  want  them. 
When  those  of  First  Principles  are  sent — which  they  will  be 
as  soon  as  ever  the  second  edition  is  out  of  my  hand — you 
will  be  set  up  and  we  shall  have  no  further  bother. 

Thanks  for  your  remarks  about  the  title  to  the  series, 
and  about  Comte.  You  have  alarmed  yourself  needlessly, 
however.  Though  I  referred  to  Lewes  and  his  description 
of  me  as  a  positivist  as  a  reason  for  taking  the  step,  I  did 
not  say  that  I  should  give  this  as  a  reason.  It  never  oc- 
curred to  me  to  mention  Comte  or  positivism  in  the  preface 
to  the  new  edition. 

I  regret  to  hear  what  you  tell  me  about  Mill's  address, 
but  it  completely  fulfils  the  prophecy  I  made  to  him  about 
its  effect.  I  wish  would  write  a  letter  direct  to  him  about 
it,  saying  that  you  did  so  at  my  suggestion.  It  might 
prompt  him  to  write  something  in  one  of  your  papers  to 
rectify  the  impression.  I  should  very  well  like  to  answer  it, 
but  it  would  add  another  to  the  many  delays  that  meet  me. 

I  am  staying  here  with  my  friends  in  Scotland,  doing  a 
little  work,  but  passing  most  of  the  time  in  sports  and 
amusements.  I  am  getting  much  better.  The  relaxation 
did  not  come  too  soon,  for  I  find  myself  anything  but 


Popular  Education,  and  Other  Matters.          239 

strong.     However,  I  expect  soon  to  be  right.      Kind  re- 
gards to  all,  and  believe  me  very  truly  yours, 

HERBERT  SPENCER. 

SARATOGA  SPRINGS,  August  29,  1867. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  I  wrote  you  some  time  since  that 
I  sent  the  plates  of  Biology,  as  you  requested,  "  promptly," 
and,  furthermore,  that  it  placed  us  in  something  of  a  pre- 
dicament— putting  back  the  publication  of  Volume  II,  I  fear, 
till  late.  I  hope  you  did  not  fail  to  get  the  letter,  as  I  ex- 
plained the  necessity  of  the  utmost  promptness  in  returning 
the  duplicates.  The  blunder  of  your  printers  was  very 
unfortunate,  and  cannot  fail  to  tell  seriously  upon  your 
dividends  this  year.  But  I  console  myself  with  the  reflec- 
tion that  when  this  obstruction  is  tided  over  we  shall  have 
clear  sailing. 

An  American  edition  of  Huxley's  Elementary  Les- 
sons in  Physiology,  with  added  chapters  on  Hygiene, 
was  to  be  prepared  by  William  Jay  Youmans.  The 
causes  of  delay  are  explained  in  the  following  emi- 
nently characteristic  letters : 

SARATOGA,  July  jo,  1867. 

DEAR  BROTHER  JAY  :  I  think  I  left  Chapter  XIV  with 
Werrey.*  He  will  send  proofs  to  me,  and  after  final  revision 
I  will  send  you  a  set,  chapter  by  chapter.  That  I  have 
considerable  to  do  on  them,  as  you  will  perceive,  is  one  of 
the  causes  of  delay.  But  I  will  now  hurry  it  forward. 
There  is  nothing  new  here  ;  everything  jogs  along  at  the  old 
rate;  some  kitchen  perturbations  give  spicinessto  domestic 
life.  I  have  Gorman's  brother — green,  and  a  natural  fool 
into  the  bargain ;  also  Mike.  And  between  the  Mclllroys 
and  the  Germans  there  is  feud  dating  back  to  Ireland, 
which  makes  a  precious  mess  of  it. 

*  Head  of  Appletons'  printing  department. 


240  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

August  j d. — I  found  the  inclosed  passage  imbedded  in 
a  paragraph,  and  there  having  been  no  reference  to  the  sub- 
ject before,  the  first  question  of  an  ignorant  pupil  would  be  : 
What  is  he  talking  about  ?  What  are  cysteria  ?  What  are 
trichinae  ?  What  is  encephaloid  ?  One  of  the  things  I  had 
expected  was  to  find  a  complete  paragraph,  or  several  para- 
graphs, with  a  full  account  of  these  parasites.  Turning  to 
the  last  section  of  the  chapter  on  Foods,  I  find  a  recurrence 
to  them,  but  no  explanation.  Everything  is  taken  for 
granted.  The  passage  is  a  somewhat  exaggerated  sample 
of  your  prevailing  fault  of  writing.  You  must  study  the 
art  of  putting  a  case.  You  must,  in  the  first  place,  throw 
yourself  into  the  state  of  mind  of  one  who  knows  nothing 
of  the  subject,  and  make  the  explanation  simple  and  com- 
plete without  his  having  to  go  to  the  dictionary  or  glossary. 
A  world  of  practice  will  be  required  upon  this  one  point. 
As  practice,  you  cannot  do  better  than  to  make  a  statement, 
and  then  make  it  over  and  over  again,  striving  each  time 
to  get  it  more  simple  and  clear.  I  will  omit  the  included 
passage  from  its  place,  and  put  what  is  said  upon  this  sub- 
ject in  the  last  section  of  the  chapter,  and  I  wish  you  would 
immediately  write  out  a  full  account  of  the  matter:  the 
origin,  size,  circumstances,  propagation  of  the  animals,  and 
their  physiological  effects,  harmless  or  harmful.  It  will  be 
expected  in  the  book.  It  is  just  what  the  second  part  of 
the  book  is  for. 

August  4th. — I  am  head  and  ears  into  your  job,  as  I 
wrote  yesterday.  The  chapter  on  clothes  is  the  best  of  all, 
as  the  whole  discussion  is  most  pertinent.  Yet  I  miss  the 
specific  and  most  important  statement  to  which  you  have 
often  referred,  of  the  effect  of  insufficient  clothing  in  in- 
fancy. You  despatch  the  whole  question  of  infancy  and 
old  age  by  a  short  extract  from  Parkes.  If  you  can  muster 
some  statements  with  specific  evil  effects,  concrete  facts, 
and  send  them  down,  I  will  incorporate  them.  A  note  from 


Popular  Education,  and  Other  Matters.          241 

Werrey  says  some  of  the  manuscript  is  missing.  I  hope  it 
will  not  be  serious.  I  shall  send  him  in  a  day  or  two  all 
the  copy  up  to  the  last  section  of  the  chapter  on  foods.  I 
must  keep  that  for  a  better  statement  about  trichinae,  as 
I  wrote  you  yesterday.  And  in  that  section  also  the  refer- 
ence to  the  diet  of  children  is  very  meagre  and  unsatisfac- 
tory. The  effect  of  substituting  arrowroot  for  milk  in 
their  diet  is  not  referred  to.  Can  you  not  make  some 
points  on  this  subject  by  reference  to  the  handbook  ?  And 
both  in  respect  of  diet  and  clothing,  can't  you  get  some 
concrete  hints  from  Part  IV  of  Spencer's  Education  ?  In 
the  chapter  on  food  the  last  section  is  really  the  only  part 
that  bites  upon  the  subject  of  hygiene,  the  rest  is  but  re- 
motely applicable.  I  am  retrenching  what  seem  the  more 
indirect  parts. 

September  nth. — I  have  been  down  to  New  York  to  see 
about  things,  and  returned  this  morning.  I  send  by  mail 
to-day  twenty-four  pages  more.  Chapter  XIX  is  in  the 
hands  of  the  printer,  and  I  have  commenced  Chapter  XX, 
the  last ;  must  have  it  done  in  a  week.  Send  down  the 
questions  at  once  as  far  as  they  go.  Werrey  will  set  them 
up  and  page  and  stereotype  them  as  soon  as  the  last  chapter 
is  through. 

I  received  yours  of  September  6th  this  morning.  We 
are  all  well,  our  folks  quite  smart,  and  slowly  gathering 
themselves  together  to  leave,  which  they  will  probably  do 
in  October.  We  shall  commence  boxing  their  things 
shortly.  I  am  not  without  serious  fears  respecting  the 
Physiology.  Neither  Part  I  nor  Part  II  are  just  what  they 
ought  to  be.  If  the  work  proves  to  have  any  value  or 
promise,  I  suspect  the  only  method  will  be  a  thorough  re- 
vision and  restereotyping.  There  is  too  much  irrelevant 
or  very  remotely  relevant  matter  in  Part  II.  I  shall  do 
what  I  can  to  make  Chapter  XX  attractive. 

September  24th. — A  mess  of  questions,  pages   13  to  25, 


242  ,       Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

came  yesterday.  I  have  not  received  those  going  before. 
If  they  have  been  sent  and  miscarried,  you  will  have  to 
copy  or  make  them  over.  Let  me  know  about  it.  You  will 
have  to  be  patient  with  this  long  delay.  I  am  doing  the 
very  best  I  can.  You  won't  require  much  imagination  to 
understand  that  in  the  midst  of  this  breaking  up  there  is 
little  opportunity  for  quiet  and  contained  thought.  I  am 
hourly  and  semi-hourly  disturbed.  Have  been  bothered  to 
death  to  get  a  man  to  make  our  boxes;  have  at  last  found 
a  fool  who  can  put  them  together,  but  I  shall  have  to  do 
all  the  packing  myself.  The  last  chapter  of  the  book  is  to 
be  the  most  important  one.  It  will  be  quite  a  new  feature, 
and  I  wish  to  make  it  the  card  of  the  work.  It  is  the  most 
difficult  thing  I  ever  attempted,  and  I  have  to  do  it  many 
times  over.  I  guess  I  have  broken  up  and  restated  the 
first  section  already  ten  times.  I  shall  hurry  it  along  as 
fast  as  possible  consistent  with  doing  it  right,  which  is  the 
first  thing  to  be  considered,  for  the  success  of  the  book  is 
in  question,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  ten  years'  interest  with  no 
further  trouble  when  done.  I  have  not  touched  my  lec- 
ture, nor  shall  I  till  this  job  is  finished. 

Early  in  1868  the  Physiology  and  Hygiene  of  Prof. 
Huxley  and  Dr.  William  Jay  Youmans  was  published. 
The  following  letter  alludes  to  this  and  to  the  text- 
book of  Botany  which  Miss  Youmans  was  preparing : 

SARATOGA,  March  j,  1868. 

MY  DEAR  SISTER  :  You  will  be  glad  to  know  that  the 
Physiology  has  been  warmly  commended  by  Dr.  Austin 
Flint,  who  has  written  Mr.  W.  H.  Appleton  a  note  about  it. 
The  only  fault  he  finds  is  with  the  illustrations,  which  he 
does  not  consider  up  to  the  times.  Earle  mentions  that 
you  have  had  a  little  trial  trip  with  the  Botany,  which 
proved  satisfactory.  I  was  glad  to  hear  it.  There  rests 
no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  it  is  a  very  big  thing  education- 


Popular  Education,  and  Other  Matters.          243 

ally,  and  that  the  public  is  quite  ripe  for  it.  I  had  a  talk 
with  Mr.  Hewitt  at  the  Century  the  other  night,  and  was 
glad  to  find  that  he  had  formed  a  very  high  opinion  of 
botany  in  a  disciplinary  point  of  view,  saying  that  it  was 
probably  as  good  as  mathematics.  I  showed  him  in  what 
respects  it  was  superior,  and  when  I  told  him  that  it  was 
the  only  point  in  the  whole  course  of  education  at  which 
aesthetics  might  be  naturally  developed,  I  think  he  was 
much  struck  by  the  remark.  He  asked  me  if  I  thought  it 
could  be  systematically  included  or  co-ordinated  with  the 
other  studies  in  the  School  of  Design.  I  said,  Undoubtedly. 
He  had  looked  over  the  Physiology,  and  liked  it.  He  was 
interested  in  your  progress  with  the  Botany  when  I  told 
him  about  it.  The  botanical  field,  as  you  mean  to  take  it 
up,  is  quite  unoccupied ;  how  long  it  may  remain  so  is  un- 
certain. You  ought  not  to  carry  the  book  through  alone  ; 
you  must  have  somebody  help  you  do  the  drudgery  of  it. 

I  have  been  overhauling  the  World  to  find  Fiske's  arti- 
cles,* and  have  been  well  rewarded.  He  remembers  Spen- 
cer every  time.  I  send  them  to  you.  Preserve  them  and 
bring  them  down  when  you  come. 

In  this  winter  season  of  1868  Mr.  Youmans  made 
the  last  of  his  long  lecturing1  journeys,  attended  by 
much  weariness  and  discomfort.  In  reading  the  let- 
ters of  this  time,  that  susceptibility  to  cold — which 
afterward  ended  his  life — impresses  me  as  greater 
than  in  those  days  I  had  fully  realized. 

WINONA,  January  26,  1868. 

MY  DARLING  KITTY  :  I  was  gladdened  by  two  letters 
when  I  arrived  here  yesterday,  while  a  third  has  come  to- 

*  The  reference  is  to  various  reviews  of  historical  and  scientific  books, 
in  the  course  of  which  the  doctrine  of  evolution  was  apt  to  get  mentioned, 
with  some  of  its  bearings  upon  the  particular  case  in  hand. 


244  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

day.  You  are  a  very  dutiful  little  wife.  The  train  which 
was  due  at  La  Crosse  at  midnight  did  not  arrive  till  six  in 
the  morning.  There  was  no  sleeping  coach,  and  the  in- 
fernal cars  were  hotter  than  ovens.  Not  a  wink  of  sleep 
did  I  get,  and  my  eyes  became  much  irritated.  I  got  here 
at  noon,  and  ah,  how  solid  and  dense  was  my  sleep  last 
night !  It  has  left  me  rather  exhausted.  .  .  . 

At  Freeport  there  was  a  protracted  meeting  in  full  blast 
in  every  church  in  town  except  the  Episcopal,  and  a  general 
feeling  of  pious  rage  at  my  appearance  on  the  scene.  The 
Presbyterian  clergyman  alone,  a  cold-blooded  but  highly 
intelligent  man,  who  had  been  reluctantly  driven  into  the 
revivalist  movement  by  sheer  competition,  appointed  his 
meetings  at  half-past  six,  so  that  people  could  come  to  the 
lecture  at  eight.  My  first  audience  accordingly  consisted 
of  about  a  hundred  stragglers  from  prayer  meeting.  In 
my  lecture  I  of  course  assumed  the  antiquity  of  the  earth, 
and  that  was  enough !  It  got  abroad  the  next  day,  and 
was  reverberated  through  the  town  that  "  Prof.  Youmans  is 
an  avowed  and  unblushing  infidel."  There  was  a  deuce  of 
a  time.  I  was  called  upon  and  offensively  catechised  as  to 
what  I  believed.  Questions  were  written  out  by  a  clergy- 
man and  sent  to  me  to  be  promptly  answered  in  public. 
The  next  night  it  was  scarcely  better;  but  the  gentlemen 
who  had  my  lectures  in  charge,  seeing  how  things  were 
going  and  determined  not  to  be  baffled,  crowded  the  house 
the  last  two  nights  with  pupils  of  the  schools  let  in  free — 
a  capital  arrangement,  for  I  would  always  rather  talk  to 
them  than  to  the  old  folks.  At  the  close  of  the  last  lecture 
I  gave  them  a  piece  of  my  mind  in  a  dignified  way.  1 
turned  the  tables  on  them,  and  showed  that  the  real  infidels 
are  those  people  who  have  so  little  faith  in  God  and  in  his 
universe  as  to  be  skeptical  about  the  wholesomeness  of 
demonstrated  truths.  It  was  a  successful  hit.  After  I  had 
finished,  a  splendid-looking  man,  ever  so  much  like  Uncle 


Popular  Education,  and  Other  Matters.          245 

Good  in  appearance  (he  was  a  Mr.  Mitchell,  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  and  president  of  the  principal  bank  in 
Freeport),  came  up  to  the  platform  and  gathered  the  com- 
mittee together.  He  then  said,  "  I  will  myself  stand  the 
expense  of  an  immediate  repetition  of  this  course  of  lec- 
tures//-^, if  Prof.  Youmans  will  stay  and  deliver  them ! ! !  " 
My  engagements,  as  you  know,  made  this  impossible. 
I  remain,  with  much  love,  your  vagrant  husband, 

E.  L.  Y. 

WiNONA,  February  4,  1868. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE  :  I  almost  dread  to  sit  down  to  write  to 
you.  I  seem  fated  to  send  you  such  a  lugubrious  set  of 
reports  that  you  must  be  very  much  wearied  with  them. 
Still,  if  only  for  the  sake  of  the  unities,  I  am  constrained 
to  continue  my  grad-grindings.  It  is  now  Tuesday  morn- 
ing. I  left  a  week  ago  yesterday  morning  for  Rochester, 
gave  one  lecture  there  and  one  in  St.  Paul,  and  consumed 
the  entire  week,  only  getting  back  very  late  Saturday  night. 
The  prairie  winds  drifted  the  hard  dry  snow  over  the  rail- 
roads, filling  the  deep  cuts  as  with  ice.  To  be  four  or  six 
hours  in  a  single  snow-bank  was  a  common  experience.  I 
counted  myself  most  fortunate  in  getting  back  as  I  did,  as 
the  roads  are  now  almost  completely  blocked,  and  the 
train  that  started  out  yesterday  morning  returned  at  night 
after  having  only  reached  the  first  station.  I  lectured  at 
Coldwater  on  Saturday  night,  and  while  under  ordinary 
circumstances  I  could  arrive  there  by  leaving  Friday  morn- 
ing, I  cannot  now  venture  to  leave  here  later  than  to-mor- 
row morning.  My  visit  home,*  therefore,  although  by  no 
means  spoiled,  has  been  greatly  interrupted  and  disturbed. 
The  cold  has  been  very  intense — from  ten  to  twenty-eight 
degrees  below  zero — and  for  this  I  was  not  at  all  prepared. 

*  Youman's  father  and  mother  had  left  the  Saratoga  farm,  and  were 
now  staying  at  Winona. 


246  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

I  therefore  took  a  succession  of  colds,  day  by  day  and 
night  by  night,  and  when  I  returned  to  Winona  was  quite 
ill — hard  cough,  great  hoarseness,  extreme  and  painful 
soreness  of  the  chest,  and  headache.  Jay  at  once  took  me 
in  hand,  and  what  with  going  to  bed,  two  days'  rest,  and 
mustard  plasters  on  my  chest,  I  came  out  this  morning 
feeling  very  much  better,  headache  and  lung  soreness  gone, 
and  cough  diminished  but  tightened.  The  weather  has  for- 
tunately relaxed.  .  .  .  I. have  mentioned  to  you  repeatedly 
how  predominant  is  the  religious  excitement  in  the  various 
towns  where  I  have  lectured.  A  note  from  Mr.  Cowles,  of 
Freeport,  states  that  Rev.  Mr.  Gary  (who  sent  me  up  that 
series  of  questions  to  be  publicly  answered)  announced 
that  he  would  preach  from  Genesis  i,  i,  a  sermon  entitled 
Thoughts  suggested  by  the  Recent  Lectures  of  Prof. 
Youmans.  The  Methodist  clergyman  of  Rochester  also 
advertised  that  he  would  preach  on  the  Dynamics  of  Life. 
I  doubt  not  that  both  houses  will  be  jammed.  My  lecture 
at  St.  Paul  was  very  satisfactory  on  my  part,  but  for  ex- 
actly the  same  cause  the  house  was  slender.  All  the 
churches  were  aflame  with  the  religious  excitement.  I 
met  the  Methodist  bishop  coming  down  on  the  cars  (to 
dedicate  some  church),  who  regretted  that  I  had  come  to 
St.  Paul  just  at  this  time  when  there  was  so  much  religious 
interest.  Several  gentlemen  attacked  him  because  the 
clergymen  did  not  attend  the  lectures.  He  replied  :  "  We 
never  suspend  religious  meetings  for  such  reasons."  The 
quick  rejoinder  was,  "You  did  suspend  them  for  Gough 
and  Anna  Dickinson,"  which  of  course  made  him  angry. 
He  replied,  "  If  they  had  not  adjourned  them  they  would 
have  been  left  alone."  He  said,  "  It  is  not  science  that 
the  world  wants,  but  Christ !  " 

I  hope  I  may  soon  see  you,  and  be  at  home  somewhere. 
I  am  very,  very  tired  with  this  life  of  vagrancy. 


Popular  Education,  and  Other  Matters.          247 

ZANESVILLE,  OHIO,  February  23,  1868. 

DEAR  SISTER:  I  have  held  on  steadily,  and  closed  my 
series  of  engagements  last  night  without  losing  a  lecture, 
but  it  has  been  harder  and  harder  work.  I  have  had  a  ter- 
rible cough,  which  has  been  equally  distressing  to  myself 
and  my  audience.  I  could  not  give  another  lecture,  and 
yet  I  think  my  cold  is  in  that  state  that  if  I  can  stop  to 
rest  it  will  quietly  leave  me.  The  speaking  tears  it  up 
every  night.  Last  night,  when  I  had  begun  to  speak,  I 
had  a  spasm  of  the  throat  that  lasted  four  or  five  minutes, 
embarrassing  and  alarming  me  very  much,  but  it  soon 
passed  entirely  away. 

SARATOGA,  March  j,  1868. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  :  Earle  will  report  to  you  that  I  got 
home  to  New  York  safely,  although  pretty  well  used  up. 
He  left  me  yesterday  morning  at  Mechanicsville  in  the 
midst  of  a  furious  snowstorm.  The  cars  got  to  Saratoga, 
but  could  go  no  further.  Tommy*  was  there,  but  the 
storm  was  so  blinding  and  furious  that  we  almost  gave  up 
the  idea  of  trying  to  get  over  to  the  larm.  We  had  a  tough 
job,  I  can  assure  you,  and  were  two  hours  getting  over. 
The  road  was  buried  out  of  sight,  and  the  drifts  were  deep, 
some  of  them  immense.  Tommy  said  the  snow  was  three 
feet  on  a  level  before,  and  we  have  had  another  foot  or 
fifteen  inches.  The  house  this  morning  is  completely  buried 
in.  I  find  the  house  tight  as  a  drum,  every  door  locked 
(and  the  key  hid)  but  the  kitchen.  The  house  is  as  neat 
as  waxwork.  The  kitchen  is  kept  swept,  the  stove  pol- 
ished, and  Tommy  has  a  harness,  which  he  has  been  oiling 
in  the  back  kitchen.  One  of  the  cows  had  a  calf  the  night 

*  Thomas  Welsh  was  a  young  Irishman  who  had  been  left  in  charge 
of  the  farm.  When  Vincent  Youmans  and  his  wife  went  out  to  Winona 
to  live  Edward  took  the  farm  off  their  hands.  He  sold  it  in  the  course 
of  the  spring,  and  then  secured  for  the  faithful  "  Tommy  "  a  position  in 
the  Appletons'  printing  establishment. 


248  Edward  Livingston   Yoiimans. 

before  I  came,  but  Tommy  found  it  dead.  It  lies  there 
stiff,  and  the  poor  cow  feels  awfully.  Her  dumb  supplica- 
tion to  us  to  do  something  for  the  poor  dead  thing  is  very 
touching.  She  goes  to  it,  and  then  turns  back  and  looks 
at  it  and  moans,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  Can't  something  be 
done?"  She  is  doing  well,  and  Tommy  says  will  be  all 
right  by  the  seventh  milking.  The  horses  are  looking  very 
well.  The  colt  got  so  fractious  that  he  was  compelled  to 
stop  giving  grain.  He  gives  them  alternate  stalks  and 
hay.  He  says  old  Roan  is  very  fond  of  the  stalks.  The 
road  goes  across  the  hill,  between  the  house  and  barn,  and 
Slade  has  just  gone  over  it  with  a  snowplough.  It  is  town 
meeting,  but  there  will  be  a  very  light  vote  to-day.  The 
hens  have  not  begun  to  lay  yet.  I  had  last  night  the  first 
solid,  sound,  unmitigated  sleep  for  the  last  three  months. 
Tommy  rolled  the  hot  water  thing  all  round  in  the  bed 
before  I  got  into  it.  He  has  raised  a  hundred  bushels 
of  ashes,  and  drawn  five  or  six  cords  of  wood  from  the 
mountain,  and  several  cords  down  in  the  new  roadway. 
I  am  going  to  try  hard  to  sell  the  place  this  March.  The 
weather  has  been  terribly  cold  here,  and  however  it  may 
be  in  Minnesota,  you  may  well  congratulate  yourselves 
on  having  escaped  from  this  chilling  environment.  I  must 
go  back  to  New  York  to-morrow,  if  possible.  Tommy  is 
"a-bilin"'  dinner;  the  pork,  cabbage,  and  potatoes  are 
walloping*  away  in  the  pot  while  he  is  shovelling  out  the 
house.  .  .  .  Study  to  be  quiet,  and  don't  go  out  while  it  is 
cold. 

The  crowded  occupations  of  the  autumn  and  win- 

*  An  ancient  and  picturesque  word :  wallop,  "  to  boil,"  Skeat ;  "  to 
bubble  up,"  Wright,  Halliwell ;  "  to  move  quickly  and  with  much  agita- 
tion," Jamieson's  Scottish  Diet.  The  Anglo-Saxon  is  up-weallan,  to  well 
up,  like  a  spring  ;  "  aufwallen"  Edward  Miiller,  Etym.  Woerterb.  d.  Eng- 
lischen  Sprache  ;  "  represents  the  sound  of  liquid  in  agitation,"  Wedgwood, 
Etym.  Diet. 


Popular  Education,  and  Other  Matters.         249 

ter  had  prevented  the  writing  of  letters  to  Mr.  Spen- 
cer, until  he  had  begun  to  feel  some  anxiety  about  his 
friend. 

37  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  LONDON,  W.,  January  2,  1868. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  I  am  beginning  to  be  anxious  to 
hear  from  you,  fearing  from  your  silence  that  something 
may  have  happened.  The  date  of  your  last  letter  is  August 
29th — more  than  four  months  ago — so  that  I  begin  to  fear 
either  that  my  letters  have  not  reached  you,  or  that  you 
have  been  doing  too  much  and  made  yourself  ill.  Pray, 
let  me  hear  from  you. 

I  am  just  now  suffering  under  one  of  my  occasional 
attacks  of  greater  nervousness  than  usual,  resulting  more 
especially  in  very  bad  nights.  For  the  last  fortnight  I  have 
done  very  little  work,  and  for  the  last  week  none  at  all. 
To-morrow  I  am  going  off  into  Gloucestershire,  where,  if  the 
frost  which  has  now  set  in  lasts,  I  hope  to  get  some  skat- 
ing, and  I  count  upon  this  for  doing  a  good  deal  toward 
setting  me  right  again.  I  had  hoped  to  get  out  the  first 
number  of  the  Psychology  by  the  end  of  February,  but  this 
untoward  state,  entailing,  as  it  may  do,  considerable  delay 
beyond  what  has  already  occurred  renders  that  achieve- 
ment impossible. 

37  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  LONDON,  W.,  January  22,  1868. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  Your  welcome  letter  reached  me 
a  few  hours  after  I  had  posted  my  last  to  you.  I  was  glad 
to  find  that  nothing  amiss  had  happened. 

I  dare  say  you  were  surprised  to  find  that  I  had  not 
adopted  the  new  title  for  the  serial,*  as  I  proposed.  I  dis- 
cussed the  matter  with  both  Huxley  and  Tyndall,  and 
though  I  do  not  think  that  the  objections  raised  were  such 
as  to  outweigh  the  manifest  advantages,  still  there  doubt- 

*  The  reference  is  to  the  title  Synthetic  Philosophy,  which  was 
adopted  somewhat  later. 


250  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

less  are  objections,  and  in  the  midst  of  conflicting  con- 
siderations I  eventually  became  so  far  undecided  as  to  let 
the  matter  stand  as  it  was. 

37  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  LONDON,  W.,  February  29,  1868. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  After  losing  a  great  deal  of  time 
during  the  last  two  months,  hoping  to  get  into  working 
order  by  using  half  measures,  I  have  been  at  length  com- 
pelled to  take  a  more  decisive  course.  I  start  to-morrow 
morning  for  Italy,  where  I  propose  to  spend  some  two 
months,  expecting  that  by  the  end  of  April,  by  the  com- 
bined effect  of  desisting  from  all  excitements,  intellectual 
and  social,  and  getting  the  exhilaration  due  to  so  much 
novelty,  I  shall  regain  my  ordinary  state. 

I  have  postponed  writing  until  to-day,  hoping  that  I 
might  hear  from  you  again  before  starting,  and  thinking 
that  I  might  have  something  to  reply.  Any  letter  that  ar- 
rives from  you  shortly  I  expect  will  reach  me  in  Italy,  as  I 
am  leaving  directions  to  have  all  foreign  letters  sent  on. 

NEW  YORK,  March  4,  1868. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  I  have  but  recently  returned  from 
a  protracted  absence  in  the  West,  where  I  at  last  broke 
down  from  the  exposure  of  travel  in  a  remarkably  inclem- 
ent winter.  I  left  a  number  of  engagements  unfulfilled, 
and  did  not  think  to  return  again,  but  I  am  getting  better, 
and  am  strongly  urged  to  return.  If  I  go,  it  will  take  three 
or  four  weeks.  ...  I  shall  not  be  able  to  give  attention  to 
your  books  till  I  return  from  the  West  (if  I  go).  I  am  now 
closely  occupied  with  Huxley's  Physiology,  which  must  be 
attended  to  at  once,  as  the  competition  against  it  is  going 
to  be  very  sharp.  I  was  somewhat  disappointed  at  the 
non-appearance  of  your  new  title,  as  1  had  fully  made  up 
my  mind  that  it  would  be  a  desirable  thing.  What  about 
your  coming  to  this  country  ?  Does  the  project  begin  to 
take  definite  shape  ?  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  hear  about  it. 


Popular  Education,  and  Other  Matters.          251 

Mrs.  Youmans  wishes  to  be  remembered,  and  expresses  the 
hope  that  you  are  attending  first  of  all  to  your  health. 

NEW  YORK,  March  16,  1868, 

DEAR  SISTER  :  A  short  note  from  Spencer  this  morning 
states  that  he  is  down,*  and  packing  for  Italy  to  start  at 
once  and  be  absent  two  months  or  more.  A  man  named 
B.  Waterhouse  Hawkins,  of  London,  naturalist  or  mythol- 
ogist,  acclimatizologist,  and  palaeontologist  (reconstructor 
of  the  monsters  of  a  former  world  in  the  Crystal  Palace 
grounds),  called  on  me  day  before  yesterday  with  a  card 
from  Huxley.  He  wants  to  lecture  and  to  reconstruct  the 
American  monsters  in  the  Central  Park.  He  has  many  let- 
ters to  many  people  from  Lord  Stanley  and  the  inevitable 
Sir  Roderick,  but  Huxley  sent  him  to  me,  and  told  him  to 
put  himself  in  my  hands,  and  so  I  have  him  on  my  hands. 
I  gazetted  him  in  all  the  morning  papers,  and  arranged  for 
him  to  speak  before  the  Lyceum  of  Natural  History  to- 
night. I  had  never  heard  of  B.  W.  H.,  but  he  appears  to 
be  well  known  to  all  the  scientific  men.  Huxley  is  out 
with  a  new  and  very  strong  thing,  in  the  March  Macmil- 
lan,  entitled  A  Liberal  Education  and  Where  to  get  it.f 

NEW  YORK,  Wednesday,  March  2$,  1868. 

DEAR  SISTER  :  I  am  up  to  my  eyes  in  this  Hawkins 
business,  the  whole  work  of  bringing  him  out  devolving 

*  I.  e.,  in  poor  health. 

f  The  place  to  get  a  liberal  education  was  certainly  not  the  American 
college,  of  which  Prof.  E.  D.  Cope  once  told  Youmans,  "  a  college  where 
the  whole  classical  power  was  concentrated  in  the  effort  to  throw  derision 
upon  his  [Cope's]  subjects  and  to  shame  the  boys  out  of  caring  for  them. 
He  got  them  well  started  at  first,  when  an  old  horse  was  given  them  to 
prepare  the  skeleton.  They  commenced  boiling  him  up  to  clean  the 
bones,  when  the  classical  power  actually  incited  a  mob  to  break  up  the 
proceedings,  and  it  proved  a  deathblow  to  biological  studies  ! "  And  yet 
Fourth-of-July  orators  persist  in  calling  this  a  free  and  enlightened  coun- 
try, and  allude  to  the  Dark  Ages  as  to  a  period  remote  and  elapsed. 


252  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

upon  me.  Something  may  come  of  it.  He  lectures  at  the 
Cooper  Institute  to-morrow  night.  I  will  go  up  home  on 
Friday  night,  and  will  then  write  you  about  it. 

NEW  YORK,  April  iot  1868. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  I  think  when  I  wrote  you  before  I 
'was  purposing  to  go  a  third  time  West.  I  failed,  however, 
to  get  away,  and  before  I  was  aware  of  it  I  found  myself 
over  head  and  ears  in  a  new  job. 

Mr.  Waterhouse  Hawkins,  who  brought  a  card  from 
Huxley,  had  to  be  set  a-going.  His  success  as  a  lecturer 
through  the  country  depended  entirely  on  the  reception 
and  success  he  met  with  in  New  York.  I  devoted  myself 
to  the  enterprise,  and  by  managing  the  papers  and  linking 
on  his  work  to  our  educational  needs  in  natural  history 
secured  for  him  a  splendid  reception,  of  which  I  inclose  an 
account. 

We  immediately  started  for  a  course  of  lectures  (four), 
which  would  have  undoubtedly  paid  him  a  thousand  dollars 
profit,  when  he  stepped  into  a  hole  in  one  of  our  villainous 
pavements  and  got  such  a  savage  sprain  of  the  ankle  that 
he  has  been  in  bed  ever  since,  and  it  will  be,  I  fear,  many 
days  before  he  can  be  about — which  is  as  bad  as  it  can  be 
both  for  me  and  for  him. 

We  may  yet  do  something,  but  we  have  lost  our  main 
chance,  and  the  thing  now  looks  discouraging,  especially 
as  the  lecture  season  is  now  past.  When  I  say  that  I 
have  been  completely  engrossed  day  and  night  with  this 
thing  for  a  month,  and  wish  I  were  assured  of  being  out 
of  it  in  another  month,  you  can  understand  something  how 
delays  arise  with  me  to  prevent  the  accomplishment  of 
other  things.  But  for  this  I  should  have  perhaps  reached 
your  works  again,  and  certainly  should  have  written  you 
before  this.  .  .  .  We  have  felt  much  concern  at  the  an- 
nouncement of  your  serious  ill  health,  and  hope  your 
Italian  tour  will  brace  you  up.  If  not,  I  think  you  had 


Popular  Education,  and  Other  Matters.          253 

better  strike  your  work  and  come  to  this  country  for  a 
year.  Forget  philosophy,  and  dip  into  American  life;  I 
believe  it  would  be  the  very  thing  for  you.  Think  of  it. 

37  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  LONDON,  W.,  May  j,  1868. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  Your  first  letter,  or  rather  that  of 
Mrs.  Youmans  written  on  your  behalf,  reached  me  at  Rome, 
and  the  second  and  third  I  got  since  my  return.  I  cannot 
say  that  my  hopes  that  a  journey  through  Italy  would  put 
me  into  working  order  were  realized.  I  came  back  no 
better  than  I  went — in  fact,  in  some  respects  not  so  well.  I 
have,  however,  been  improving  very  considerably  during 
the  last  week,  especially  in  sleeping,  which  is  my  great 
difficulty.  Indeed,  I  now  feel  pretty  sanguine  that  with 
tolerable  care  I  shall  shortly  get  into  my  usual  state. 

Thanks  for  your  reminder  about  my  visit  to  America. 
I  fear,  however,  there  is  no  prospect  of  my  soon  respond- 
ing to  your  wish.  My  recent  experience  has  given  me 
very  conclusive  proof  that,  with  my  irritable  nervous  sys- 
tem, I  am  quite  unfit  for  travelling.  I  was  greatly  ex- 
hausted by  my  journey  to  Marseilles,  although  I  stopped  a 
night  at  Paris  and  a  night  at  Lyons.  My  voyage  to  Naples 
did  me  further  damage.  Sleep  was  out  of  the  question. 
What  little  I  got  during  three  nights  I  owed  to  morphine. 
And  during  the  last  three  weeks  of  my  stay  abroad,  a  lead- 
ing subject  of  thought  with  me  was,  how  I  should  get  home 
again  with  the  least  amount  of  injury,  which  was  the 
shortest  route,  and  how  it  might  best  be  broken  into  short 
stays.  After  this  experience  you  will  see  that  it  is  out  of 
the  question  for  me  to  commit  myself  to  a  ten  or  twelve 
days'  voyage,  and  to  such  railway  journeys  as  travelling 
through  the  United  States  would  involve.  If  I  should 
ever  again  get  into  a  normal  state — which  does  not  seem 
very  probable — I  may  decide  differently  ;  but  while  I  remain 
as  I  am  I  must  give  up  the  idea  of  extensive  journeys. 

A  further  reason  for  thus  deciding  is  that,  quite  apart 


254  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

from  fatigue,  I  find  the  penalties  of  travelling  greater  than 
the  pleasures.  In  early  days  I  had  considerable  appetite 
for  sight-seeing ;  but  nowadays  my  appetite  is  soon  satiated, 
especially  as  not  looking  at  things  through  the  spectacles 
of  authority,  I  often  find  but  little  to  admire  where  the 
world  admires,  or  professes  to  admire,  a  great  deal.  The 
chief  pleasure  I  get  in  travelling  I  get  from  fine  scenery ; 
and  of  this  there  is  plenty  to  be  had  without  leaving  Great 
Britain. 

Thank  you  for  the  copy  of  the  American  edition  of 
Culture,  etc.  I  have  read  a  good  part  of  your  preliminary 
essay  on  Discipline,  and  like  it  very  much.  The  argument 
is  sound  and  well-sustained,  and  I  wish  the  English  edi- 
tion had  the  advantage  of  it.  The  only  passage  to  which 
I  should  take  exception  is  one  on  page  17,  where  you  have 
committed  yourself  to  the  vertebral  theory  of  the  skull. 
You  should  modify  this  in  the  next  edition. 

I  can  quite  understand  that  you  were  disappointed  that 
I  did  not  use  the  general  title  of  Synthetic  Philosophy, 
as  I  had  thought  of  doing.  I  discussed  the  matter  at 
considerable  length  with  both  Huxley  and  Tyndall,  and 
though  the  objections  they  raised  were  not,  to  my  think- 
ing, adequate,  still  they  had  weight,  and  though  I 
thought,  and  continue  to  think,  that  on  the  whole  this 
general  title  would  be  desirable,  my  conviction  was  not 
sufficiently  decided  to  lead  me  to  make  the  change  in  spite 
of  adverse  opinions.  I  see  that  you  have  been  speaking 
of  this  proposed  title,  and  that  Mr.  Alger  has  been  making 
use  of  it.  To  this  I  see  no  objection ;  and,  indeed,  it 
strikes  me  that  this  habitual  application  of  it  by  those  who 
write  reviews  in  America  will  be  the  most  desirable  way  of 
establishing  its  use,  if  no  reason  to  the  contrary  should 
hereafter  arise.  Ever  yours, 

HERBERT  SPENCER. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

APPLETONS'  JOURNAL. 

1868-18^0.     Age  47-49. 

FROM  the  beginning  of  his  connection  with  the 
Appletons  my  friend  had  looked  forward  to  a  time 
when  he  might  enlarge  the  scope  of  his  labours  by 
publishing  a  magazine  which  should  deal  with  scien- 
tific subjects  in  such  a  way  as  to  educate  the  people. 
It  was  a  steady  purpose  of  his,  and  he  never  neglected 
a  chance  of  bringing  the  subject  forward  and  urging 
its  importance.  In  1868  the  opportunity  seemed  to 
have  arrived,  but  the  case  was  complicated  by  the  fact 
that  the  Appletons  wished  to  establish  a  weekly  paper 
of  a  literary  and  artistic  character,  which  might  have 
some  such  business  value  for  its  publishers  as  Har- 
per's Weekly,  or  as  Every  Saturday,  then  published 
by  Ticknor  &  Fields.  After  long  consultation  it  was 
decided  to  combine  the  two  schemes  and  issue  an 
illustrated  weekly  paper  that  should  be  devoted  at 
once  to  popular  science  and  to  art  and  letters.  It  was 
intended  to  secure  contributions  from  the  most  emi- 
nent writers  in  Europe  as  well  as  America ;  and  with 
this  end  in  view  Mr.  Youmans,  as  editor,  sailed  for  Eng- 
land. On  the  eve  of  sailing  he  wrote  to  his  mother : 

NEW  YORK,  September  15,  1868. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER  :  I  cannot  leave  without  dropping 
you  a  line,  for  although  little  is  made  of  crossing  the  At- 

(255) 


256  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

lantic  by  people  hereabout,  I  know  you  cannot  fail  to  look 
upon  it  very  differently  and  as  full  of  danger.  But  there  are 
dangers  also  on  land,  and  the  perils  of  land  travel  rival  the 
perils  of  the  ocean.  I  go  on  an  errand  of  importance,  I 
believe,  to  the  public,  and  which  I  trust  I  am  partly  quali- 
fied to  execute.  There  is  great  satisfaction  in  having 
reached  a  position  in  which  I  command  the  confidence  of 
the  publishing  house  which  has  known  me  for  eighteen 
years,  and  now  tenders  me  an  unqualified  commission  to 
use  their  funds  to  carry  out  the  most  important  and  con- 
siderable project  they  have  yet  undertaken.  Even  should 
nothing  come  of  it,  so  much,  at  all  events,  will  remain,  and 
the  consideration  I  have  with  them  I  have  earned  myself. 
In  my  connection  with  them  I  have  never  pursued  a  selfish 
end,  and  am  as  far  from  it  now  as  is  possible  for  one  to  be 
who  cannot  utterly  lose  sight  of  a  duty  to  himself.  Should 
the  enterprise  be  carried  out  I  shall  be  glad,  and  do  not 
dread  the  responsibility  or  the  work  it  may  entail.  It  will 
be  steady,  and  so  will  be  healthier  than  the  fitful  and 
anxious  course  I  have  hitherto  pursued. 

I  think  of  you  and  father  very  often,  often  every  day, 
and  never  forget  how  much  I  owe  you  that  I  can  never 
repay.  I  have  much  happiness  in  reflecting  that  you  are 
still  so  well,  though  in  feeble  health,  and  that  you  are  so 
comfortably  situated  in  your  declining  years.  Doubtless 
you  have  your  trials — all  have  them — but  how  many  have 
less  cause  of  thankfulness  than  falls  to  your  lot.  You  have 
done  your  duty  ;  be  contented,  and  all  will  be  well.  Worry- 
ing is  exhaustive,  anti-vital,  anti-healthful,  injurious,  and 
therefore  immoral  and  irreligious.  It  cannot  be  alto- 
gether avoided,  as  I  know,  but  something  may  be  done  to 
escape  it.  It  is  our  highest  obligation  to  make  the  best  of 
things.  Your  very  affectionate  son, 

E.  L.  YOUMANS. 


Applet  ons  Journal.  257 

Mr.  Spencer  had  advised  him  not  to  undertake  the 
work  of  editing  a  periodical : 

For  your  own  comfort,  health,  and  happiness,  I  would 
advise  you  not.  You  will  be  committed  to  a  slavery  full 
of  weariness  and  vexation.  It  is  a  great  blessing  to  be 
one's  own  master — a  blessing  not  to  be  given  up  unless  some 
peremptory  duty  or  need  demands  it.  You  can  do  quite 
good  enough  in  the  way  of  public  work  without  thus  bind- 
ing yourself. 

But  if  he  must  undertake  such  work,  said  Mr. 
Spencer,  let  it  be  upon  a  monthly  magazine  rather 
than  a  weekly  paper  : 

In  deciding  on  a  weekly  periodical  rather  than  a 
monthly,  you  are,  I  think,  entering  upon  the  much  more 
serious  undertaking  of  the  two.  To  have  perpetually 
hanging  over  you  responsibilities  that  must  be  fulfilled  by 
a  given  date,  is  bad  enough  when  the  date  recurs  at  inter- 
vals of  a  month ;  and  when  it  recurs  weekly,  the  conse- 
quent sense  of  slavery  must  be  very  oppressive,  and  the 
wear  and  tear  very  serious.  Unless  the  mercantile  reasons 
in  favour  of  a  weekly  periodical  are  overwhelming,  I  think 
a  monthly  will  be  very  much  preferable.  I  think  this  for 
other  reasons  than  that  named.  The  smallness  of  a  weekly 
periodical  necessitates  short  articles,  whether  they  are 
otherwise  desirable  or  not ;  but  in  a  monthly  periodical 
you  may  have  them  short  or  long,  as  the  subject  demands. 
Moreover,  from  the  exercise  of  this  ability  to  treat  with 
due  fulness  topics  that  can-not  be  well  dealt  with  in  a  small 
space,  there  arises  the  incidental  advantage  of  having  a 
mixture  of  long  and  short  articles,  so  obtaining  an  addi- 
tional kind  of  variety.  I  should  say,  too,  that  editorship 
can  be  more  satisfactorily  discharged  with  a  periodical  of 
longer  intervals.  More  time  for  arrangement  and  more 

12 


258  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

time  for  calm  judgment  are  allowed.  Then,  too,  your  in- 
tervals of  relaxation  are  sufficiently  long  to  admit  of 
absence. 

The  following  letter  explains  itself : 

37  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  LONDON,  W.,  NovembenS,  1868. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Let  me  introduce  to  you  my  American 
friend  Dr.  Youmans.  He  is  over  here  to  make  certain 
literary  arrangements,  which  he  will  explain  to  you,  and  in 
the  success  of  which  I  feel  much  interest,  as  do  also  Hux- 
ley, Tyndall,  and  many  leading  men  whose  names  Dr.  You- 
mans can  give  you. 

That  his  project  is  an  important  one,  and  that  there  is 
every  likelihood  of  its  being  successfully  carried  out,  I  am 
fully  convinced.  It  is  from  no  short  or  superficial  acquaint- 
ance with  Dr.  Youmans  that  I  say  this.  Ever  since  1860  he 
has  been  working  for  me  in  the  United  States,  and  it  is  to 
his  self-sacrificing  efforts  that  I  owe  the  success  which  my 
undertaking  has  had  there.  Hjs  untiring  devotion  being 
joined  with  extensive  scientific  knowledge  and  very  sound 
judgment  in  matters  of  business,  he  seems  to  me  thoroughly 
fitted  to  carry  out  the  plan  he  proposes. 

If  you  can  do  anything  to  forward  his  views,  either 
directly  or  indirectly,  you  will  greatly  oblige  me. 

Sincerely  yours,  HERBERT  SPENCER. 

In  December  we  find  Youmans  back  in  New  York. 
The  first  number  of  Appletons'  Journal  of  Popular 
Literature,  Science,  and  Art  was  published  April  3, 
1869.  Its  editorial  announcement  was  as  follows  : 

The  publishing  house  by  which  the  present  Journal  is 
issued  has  been  extensively  engaged  for  nearly  half  a 
century  in  the  work  of  promoting  general  education  and 
diffusing  information  among  the  people  of  the  United 


Apple  tons  Journal.  259 

States  through  the  medium  of  valuable  books  in  all  the 
leading  departments  of  knowledge.  In  further  pursuance 
of  this  important  object,  and  recognizing  the  increasing 
tendency  of  the  public  to  cultivate  the  periodical  form  of 
literature,  the  publishers  have  engaged  in  the  enterprise  of 
a  weekly  Journal,  which  they  design  to  make  worthy  the 
liberal  patronage  of  the  reading  community. 

Omitting  ordinary  news  and  avoiding  partisan  advocacy, 
both  political  and  sectarian,  the  Journal  will  be  devoted  to 
general  literature,  to  science,  art,  and  education,  and  to  the 
diffusion  of  valuable  information  upon  subjects  of  public 
importance.  It  is  intended  to  make  use  of  all  resources, 
original  and  selected,  domestic  and  foreign,  which  can  give 
interest  and  variety  to  its  pages ;  and  neither  exertion  nor 
expense  will  be  spared  to  secure  the  aid  of  the  best  talent 
of  the  time.  We  abstain  from  the  large  professions  and 
the  parade  of  conspicuous  names  so  common  on  these  oc- 
casions, and,  trusting  to  the  intelligence  of  the  people, 
shall  be  content  to  let  the  Journal  speak  for  itself. 

The  principal  "  attraction  "  in  the  new  Journal  was 
the  translation  of  Victor  Hugo's  L'Homme  qui  Rit, 
published  simultaneously  with  the  appearance  of  the 
original  work.  The  first  number  contained  an  excel- 
lent article  by  the  editor,  What  we  mean  by  Science. 
It  is  'reprinted  in  full  in  the  present  book  as  an  illus- 
tration of  his  clear  thought  and  admirable  manner  of 
exposition.*  But  there  was  not  very  much  science  in 
the  Journal,  for  comparatively  little  room  was  allowed 
for  it.  In  such  a  novel  enterprise  the  publishers  were 
haunted  by  a  nervous  dread  of  boring  the  general 
reader.  As  Youmans  wrote  with  grim  humour  to 
Spencer,  April  27,  1869,  after  four  numbers  had  been 
issued  : 

*  See  below,  pp.  486-490. 


260  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

The  paper  is  having  a  curious  experience.  The  bare 
announcement  that  it  would  give  attention  to  science  and 
valuable  thought  raised  an  almost  universal  condemnation 
of  it  in  advance  as  a  certain  failure.  And  although  we 
have  had  no  science  in  it,  and  made  it  as  vacant  of  ideas  as 
possible,  it  is  voted  heavy. 

A  bolder  policy  from  the  start  might  very  likely 
have  proved  more  successful,  and  would  have  saved 
the  enterprise  from  the  danger  of  falling  between  two 
stools.  From  its  editor's  point  of  view  Appletons' 
Journal  was  neither  one  thing  nor  another,  and  after 
a  somewhat  irksome  year  he  resigned  his  charge. 
His  friend  Mr.  R.  H.  Manning,  of  Brooklyn,  then 
came  forward  with  another  editorial  scheme.  He 
offered  to  make  a  considerable  investment  for  the 
purpose  of  founding  a  daily  newspaper  which  should 
aid  the  educational  reforms  in  which  Youmans  felt  so 
deeply  interested.  Youmans  was  to  edit  and  control 
the  paper ;  but  after  due  consideration  he  declined  the 
liberal  offer,  for  he  felt  that  his  work  could  best  be 
done  in  other  fields  than  those  of  daily  journalism. 

The  following  glimpse  of  the  winter  season  of  1870 
shows  a  renewed  attempt  to  give  lectures  and  renewed 
failure  from  ill  health  : 

NEW  YORK,  March  23,  1870. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  Yours  of  February  3d  came  punc- 
tually. It  found  me  in  Minnesota  in  rather  a  bad  way.  I 
went  West  in  early  January  to  give  some  lectures,  and  at 
the  fourth  broke  down  from  a  heavy  cold.  After  threaten- 
ing me  with  something  serious  in  the  lungs,  it  seemed  to 
shift  to  my  right  foot  as  a  kind  of  rheumatic  inflammation. 
I  fortunately  got  to  my  brother's,  in  Winona,  where  I  was 
confined,  with  much  pain,  for  two  months.  I  returned  to 
New  York  a  fortnight  ago  with  considerable  difficulty,  but 


Applet  ons  Journal.  261 

am  now  able  to  be  about,  though  still  lame.  I  did  not 
write  from  Winona  because  I  constantly  hoped  soon  to 
return  and  be  able  to  speak  of  business. 

37  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  W.,  April  26,  i8jo. 
MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  I  was  very  sorry  to  hear  of  your 
having  been  so  ill.  I  have  long  feared  that,  like  many 
others  who  are  anxious  to  diffuse  a  knowledge  of  the  laws 
of  health,  you  would  yourself  have  to  suffer  from  continu- 
ously disregarding  them.  As  I  sometimes  say  jokingly  to 
Huxley,  apropos  of  his  transgressions,  we  ought  to  erase 
the  proverb  **  Experience  makes  fools  wise,"  and  write  in 
place  of  it  "  Experience  does  not  even  make  wise  men  wise." 
I  hope,  at  any  rate,  that  henceforth  you  will  not  so  lavishly 
expend  your  energies  for  the  benefit  of  others,  taking  no 
care  of  yourself.  It  is  bad  policy  in  all  respects.  A  man 
who  gives  his  work  gratis  is  sure  to  be  undervalued. 

The  lively  interest  in  Mr.  Spencer's  philosophy  felt 
by  a  few  Americans  and  their  zealous  efforts  in  his 
behalf  had  touched  him  deeply,  and  for  some  time  he 
had  been  thinking  of  dedicating  his  System  of  Philoso- 
phy to  his  American  friends.  The  following  letter 
inclosed  the  draft  of  such  a  dedication  : 

37  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  W.,  October  19,  1870. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  The  inclosed  will  show  you  my 
reason  for  writing  again  before  you  replied  to  my  last. 

I  dare  say  you  and  other  Americans  may  have  wondered 
why  I  did  not  take  this  step  before.  The  fact  is  that  I 
did  contemplate  it  at  the  time  when  the  second  edition  of 
First  Principles  was  in  the  press ;  but  I  was  eventually  de- 
terred by  the  thought  that  it  might  seem  unfair  to  those 
English  friends  who  had,  shortly  before  that  time,  shown 
their  sympathy  by  the  steps  they  took.  On  thinking  the 
matter  over  of  late,  however,  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion 


262  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

that  the  reasons  against  the  step  do.  not  counterbalance  the 
reasons  in  its  favour.  Certainly  if  there  are  any  cases  in 
which  such  expressions  of  feeling  are  appropriate  this  is 
one. 

The  step  will  probably  be  thought  somewhat  tardy  ;  and 
I  have  myself,  from  time  to  time,  regretfully  put  aside  the 
thought  of  it  under  the  impression  that  it  was  too  late. 
Recently,  however,  it  occurred  to  me  that,  as  the  dedication 
includes  the  whole  series  of  volumes,  only  part  of  which  is 
at  present  issued,  it  is  by  no  means  too  late. 

I  have  forthwith  acted  upon  this  conclusion,  and  I  send 
you  proofs  before  stereotyping  for  the  purpose  of  asking 
whether  you  have  any  suggestion  to  make. 

You  had  better  say  nothing  about  it  until  the  thing  is 
done  ;  indeed,  considering  that  it  is  somewhat  out  of  the 
usual  course,  it  will  probably  be  best  to  say  nothing  about 
it  when  it  is  done,  but  let  the  knowledge  of  it  become 
gradually  diffused  by  the  insertion  of  the  dedication  in  all 
copies  of  First  Principles  hereafter  issued. 

Very  sincerely  yours,  HERBERT  SPENCER. 

Youmans's  admirable  letter  in  reply  must  be  given 
entire : 

NEW  YORK,  November,  1870. 

MY  DEAR  SPFNCER  :  I  have  delayed  replying  to  your 
last  from  want  of  time,  and  take  it  up  at  the  first  available 
moment.  The  dedication  you  sent  is  admirably  drawn  and 
no  doubt  would  please  American  vanity  amazingly,  but  I 
am  of  opinion  that  its  publication  would  be  decidedly  un- 
advisable.  You  have  a  few  friends  in  the  United  States, 
as  you  have  in  England  and  on  the  Continent,  who  appre- 
ciate the  importance  of  your  undertaking,  and  for  this  rea- 
son have  done  something  to  make  it  known.  It  happens 
that  in  this  country  other  elements  than  intelligent  appre- 
ciation have  been  made  available  to  promote  the  diffusion 
of  your  writings.  Yet  if  these  were  subtracted  from  the 


Appletons  Journal.  263 

movement  here,  nothing  would  be  left  to  distinguish  the 
American  reception  of  your  labours  from  those  of  other 
countries.  In  specializing  the  Americans  for  this  honour 
you  therefore  compliment  the  wrong  thing.  We  have  no 
claim  to  it,  and  it  would  be  unjust  to  your  sincere  friends 
in  other  countries.  Nothing  in  the  whole  history  of  the 
case  can  compare  with  the  nobleness  of  Mr.  Mill's  pro- 
posal to  you.  You  have  a  large  generosity  of  feeling 
toward  the  Americans;  they  are  a  great  way  off,  and  you 
know  little  of  the  ins  and  outs  of  things  here,  while  many 
of  them  undoubtedly  deserve  your  kindly  regard.  But 
they  well  enough  understand  that  they  are  the  indebted 
parties  in  this  matter.  Your  sensitiveness,  however,  is 
natural,  and  it  found  ample  expression  in  your  letter  to 
Minturn,  which  ought  to  have  been  published  as  an  act  of 
justice  to  you.  I  did  not  like  to  ask  him  for  it  for  the  pur- 
pose, as  I  had  been  meddling  so  much  in  the  matter.  I  had 
some  time  since  resolved  to  do  it,  however,  and  hope  soon 
to  give  it  to  the  public  under  suitable  circumstances;*  and 
this  will  make  the  dedication  unnecessary  for  the  purpose 
you  have  in  view. 

Your  philosophy,  Heaven  be  praised,  has  no  narrowness 
or  taint  of  nationality  about  it.  It  belongs  to  the  world's 
civilization ;  let  it  not  be  blemished  by  any  external  mark 
of  partiality. 

In  saying  that  you  have  a  few  friends  in  this  country  I 
only  refer  to  those  who  have  been  active  in  the  service  of 
your  works.  You  have  a  very  large  and  growing  con- 
stituency of  students,  who  are  becoming  more  or  less  deeply 
imbued  with  your  views.  You  are  becoming  both  widely 
known  and  deeply  felt  in  these  communities.  I  yesterday 
received  a  letter  from  a  young  man  in  Philadelphia  the 
point  of  which  was  :  "  I  have  Motley's  histories  in  seven 

*  It  has  been  given  in  full  above,  pp.  217,  218. 


264  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

volumes  perfect ;  can  I  exchange  them  for  Spencer's  works, 
which  I  have  long  wanted  but  am  unable  to  buy  ?  " 

There  are  many  such  encouraging  symptoms  which  come 
to  my  observation.  The  sales  are  slow,  but  I  still  have 
strong  hope  that  they  may  be  quickened.  I  am  almost 
ashamed  to  refer  to  this  again.  It  has  been  my  purpose ; 
I  have  talked  about  it  so  much,  and  so  little  has  come  of  it, 
but  I  have  not  been  favourably  situated  to  do  anything. 
The  baulk  of  the  Journal  was  a  very  severe  thing  for  me, 
but  there  have  been  other  things  worse  than  that  which 
have  helped  to  break  me  up — things  which  cannot  be  ex- 
plained— and  so  I  have  done  but  little.  I  have,  however, 
made  a  loose  semi-arrangement  with  the  Appletons  to  give 
attention  to  some  of  their  books.  I  have  devoted  myself 
for  weeks  to  Huxley's  and  Lubbock's  books,  and  the  result 
is  very  satisfactory  to  the  publishers.  They  were  doubtful 
about  the  policy  of  getting  Lubbock's  book  at  all,  yet  the 
second  edition  is  very  nearly  gone. 

They  thought  a  thousand  would  answer  for  Huxley  a 
year.  It  was  not  published  until  late  in  October,  and  has 
gone  to  the  third  thousand  already.  The  arrangement  is  a 
precarious  one,  as  they  want  much  done  for  small  pay  ;  but 
before  it  terminates  I  mean  to  get  at  your  books  and  stir 
up  the  public  about  them. 

Recurring  to  the  dedication,  you  say  we  may  have  won- 
dered why  the  step  you  propose  was  not  taken  before.  I 
certainly  think  not.  I  believe  there  is  no  feeling  that  any- 
thing of  the  kind  is  due,  and  I  hope  you  will  dismiss  from 
your  thoughts  all  shadow  of  anxiety  in  the  matter.  If  we 
have  done  something,  we  have  sufficiently  bragged  about 
it  and  are  immensely  satisfied. 

Could  you  have  come  to  this  country  and  judged  of 
things  for  yourself,  I  should  have  nothing  to  say ;  but, 
knowing  them  as  I  do,  I  take  the  liberty  of  giving  you  my 
opinion  that  it  would  be  an  unwise  thing. 

Ever  and  truly  yours,  E.  L.  YOUMANS. 


Appletons  Journal.  265 

37  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  W.,  December  28,  1870. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  Your  letter  dealing  with  the  ques- 
tion of  the  dedication  took  me  somewhat  by  surprise.  How- 
ever, it  was  in  one  respect  satisfactory,  since  it  relieved  me 
from  the  feeling  which  I  have  long  had  that  an  adequate 
recognition  of  the  sympathy  of  my  American  friends  had 
not  been  made  and  was  due  from  me.  I  trust  to  your  judg- 
ment in  the  matter.  I  had  very  nearly  given  orders,  before 
receiving  your  letter,  to  stereotype  the  dedication,  wishing 
to  prefix  it  to  a  supply  that  was  being  bound  for  the  English 
market.  However,  I  did  not  do  so,  and  since  the  receipt 
of  your  letter  I  have  caused  the  type  to  be  distributed. 

Your  late  letters  have  given  but  evasive  replies  to  my  in- 
quiries respecting  your  own  affairs,  and  have  tended  to  con- 
firm my  suspicion  that  things  were  not  going  well  with  you. 
This  suspicion  I  was  sorry  to  have  verified  lately  by  Dr. 
Draper,  who  is  over  here,  and  who  quite  confirmed  me  in 
the  belief  that  your  sacrifices  in  the  propagation  of  ideas 
had  entailed  an  undue  neglect  of  your  own  interests.  This 
is  a  very  unsatisfactory  consciousness  for  me,  knowing  as 
I  do  that  so  much  of  your  time  has  been  occupied  in  the 
diffusion  of  my  works.  I  should  be  well  pleased  to  hear 
that  you  were  devoting  yourself  for  a  time  entirely  to  per- 
sonal advancement.  Would  it  not  be  well  to  look  for  a  pro- 
fessorship ?  You  have  had  offers  of  the  kind.  The  duties 
would  be  congenial,  and  would  leave  you  a  considerable 
share  of  freedom.  Ever  sincerely  yours, 

HERBERT  SPENCER. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

THE   INTERNATIONAL   SCIENTIFIC   SERIES. 
1871.     Age,  SO. 

FOR  chronological  and  other  reasons  it  is  well 
enough  to  begin  our  chapter  with  some  extracts  from 
letters. 

NEW  YORK,  April  21,  1871. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  Things  are  going  here  furiously. 
I  have  never  known  anything  like  it.  Ten  thousand  De- 
scent of  Man  have  been  printed,  and  I  guess  they  are  nearly 
all  gone.  Five  or  six  thousand  of  Lay  Sermons  have  been 
printed,  while  Mivart  is  reprinted  and  has  fallen  stillborn. 
The  progress  of  liberal  thought  is  remarkable.  Everybody 
is  asking  for  explanations.  The  clergy  are  in  a  flutter. 
McCosh  told  them  not  to  worry,  as  whatever  might  be 
discovered  he  would  find  design  in  it  and  put  God  be- 
hind it. 

Twenty-five  clergymen  of  Brooklyn  sent  for  me  to  meet 
them  of  a  Saturday  night  and  tell  them  what  they  should 
do  to  be  saved.  I  told  them  they  would  find  the. way  of 
life  in  the  Biology  and  in  the  Descent  of  Man.  They  said, 
"Very  good,"  and  asked  me  to  come  again  at  the  next 
meeting  of  the  clerical  club,  to  which  I  went  and  was  again 
handsomely  resoluted.  My  warrant  for  attempting  to  en- 
lighten these  gentlemen  is  that  they  know  nothing  what- 
ever about  the  subject,  while  I  was  in  wonderfully  sympa- 
thetic nearness  to  them.  I  send  you  Every  Saturday,  with 
new  illustrations  of  That  Heathen  Chinee,  and  inclose 

(266) 


The  International  Scientific  Series.  267 

illustrated  cards  of  another  bit  of  slang  poetry,  but  true 
to  nature  in  Pike  County,  Illinois.  I  quite  relished  the 
last  illustration.* 

37  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  LONDON,  W.,Junej,  1871. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  I  inclose  a  brief  article  just  out. 
I  wrote  it  partly  as  a  quiet  way  of  setting  opinion  right 
on  the  matter.  Since  the  publication  of  Darwin's  De- 
scent of  Man  there  has  been  a  great  sensation  about  the 
theory  of  the  development  of  mind — essays  in  the  mag- 
azines on  Darwinism  and  Religion,  Darwinism  and  Morals, 
Philosophy  and  Darwinism,  all  having  reference  to  the 
question  of  mental  evolution,  and  all  proceeding  on  the 
supposition  that  it  is  Darwin's  hypothesis.  As  no  one  says 
a  word  in  rectification,  and  as  Darwin  himself  has  not  in- 
dicated the  fact  that  the  Principles  of  Psychology  was  pub- 
lished five  years  before  the  Origin  of  Species,  f  I  am  obliged 
to  gently  indicate  it  myself. 

I  send  you  the  letter,  thinking  that  perhaps  the  repub- 
lication  of  the  last  paragraph  with  some  preliminary  ex- 
planation might  not  be  amiss  in  America,  where  I -doubt 
not  the  same  erroneous  idea  is  current. 

Ever  yours  truly,  HERBERT  SPENCER. 

On  the  date  of  this  last  letter  (June  3)  Mr.  You- 
mans  was  in  mid-ocean,  sailing  on  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant of  his  many  errands  to  England.  Since  his 
resignation  of  the  editorship  of  Appletons'  Journal 
his  services  to  the  Appletons  had  consisted  chiefly  in 
the  examination  of  foreign  scientific  books,  from  which 

*  The  reference  is  to  John  Hay's  Little  Breeches,  and  to  the  last  stanza, 
where  the  angels'  deed  of  kindness  is  felicitously  pronounced 
"  A  derned  sight  better  business 

Than  loafin'  'round  the  throne." 

f  Mr.  Darwin  mentioned  the  fact  next  year  in  the  sixth  edition  of  the 
Origin  of  Species,  «pp.  xix,  428. 


268  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

he  chose  such  as  could  be  recommended  to  the  Apple- 
tons  for  republication.  His  sagacity  in  this  regard 
was  marked ;  scarcely  a  volume  he  selected  failed  to 
find  a  satisfactory  demand.  Among  the  authors  of 
note  first  introduced  to  the  American  public  through 
his  agency  were  Bagehot,  Bain,  Buckle,  Carpenter, 
Darwin,  Helmholtz,  Huxley,  Lecky,  Lubbock,  Mauds- 
ley,  Roscoe,  Sully,  and  Tyndall.  In  this  department 
of  their  business,  as  already  observed,  the  Appletons 
were  no  less  honourable  than  enterprising.  They  an- 
ticipated the  benefits  of  international  copyright  by 
paying  foreign  authors  the  same  rate  that  was  paid  to 
American  authors.  It  occurred  to  Youmans  that  this 
business  was  capable  of  being  systematized  and  devel- 
oped. He  suggested  that  a  series  of  new  works  be  un- 
dertaken, covering  the  entire  field  of  modern  science, 
to  be  simultaneously  issued  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlan- 
tic. This  scheme  was  in  pursuance  of  a  favourite  and 
eminently  sensible  idea  of  his.  He  realized  that  pop- 
ular scientific  books  adapted  to  the  general  reader  are 
apt  to  be  written  by  third-rate  men  who  do  not  well 
understand  their  subject ;  they  are  apt  to  be  dry  or 
superficial,  or  both.  No  one  can  write  so  good  a  pop- 
ular book  as  the  master  of  a  subject,  if  he  only  has  a 
fair  gift  of  expressing  himself  and  keeps  in  mind  the 
public  for  which  he  is  writing.  The  master  knows 
what  to  tell  and  what  to  omit,  and  can  thus  tell  much 
in  a  short  compass  and  still  make  it  interesting  ;  more- 
over, he  avoids  the  inaccuracies  which  are  sure  to 
occur  in  second-hand  work.  Masters  of  subjects  are 
apt,  however,  to  be  too  much  occupied  with  origi- 
nal research  to  write  popular  books.  It  was  You- 
mans's  plan  to  induce  the  leading  men  of  science  in 
Europe  and  America  to  contribute  small  volumes  on 


The  International  Scientific  Series.  269 

their  special  subjects  to  a  series  to  be  published  simul- 
taneously in  several  countries  and  languages.  Fur- 
thermore, by  special  contract  with  publishing  houses 
of  high  reputation,  the  author  was  to  receive  the  or- 
dinary royalty  on  every  copy  of  his  book  sold  in  every 
one  of  the  countries  in  question,  thus  anticipating  inter- 
national copyright  upon  a  very  wide  scale,  and  giving 
the  author  a  much  more  adequate  compensation  for  his 
labour.  To  put  this  scheme  into  operation  was  a  task 
of  great  difficulty,  so  many  conflicting  interests  had  to 
be  considered.  Youmans's  brilliant  success  is  attested 
by  that  noble  series  of  more  than  seventy  volumes 
on  all  sorts  of  scientific  subjects,  written  by  men  of 
real  eminence,  and  published  in  England,  France,  Italy, 
Germany,  and  Russia,  as  well  as  in  the  United  States. 
In  mid-ocean,  bound  upon  this  important  errand, 
he  wrote  to  his  mother  the  following  letter,  thoroughly 
characteristic,  though  more  occupied  with  himself  than 
usual,  because,  in  his  own  humorous  phrase,  it  was  an 
occasion  that  would  never  occur  again : 

LATITUDE  41°  N.,  LONGITUDE  57°  W.,  June  3,  1871.  • 
MY  DEAR  MOTHER  :  It  is  my  fiftieth  birthday,  and  away 
out  here  on  the  Atlantic  all  alone  I  celebrate  it.  The 
weather  is  fine ;  the  ocean  like  a  pond,  smooth  and  still  as 
glass,  and  has  been  so  all  the  way  from  New  York.  The 
passengers  are  agreeable,  and  the  living  is  tolerable.  Meals 
could  be  enjoyed  but  for  the  horrible,  sickening  ship  smells. 
Yet  these  things  do  not  occupy  me  much  to-day,  for  my 
thoughts  go  back  through  the  years  I  have  spent,  with  too 
little  good  result — back  forty  years  to  Greenfield,  which  I 
left  after  the  first  ten  years.  Old  Greenfield  is  still  very 
dear  in  my  memory,  for  my  recollections  of  early  childhood 
are  very  vivid  and  pleasant.  There  is  still  nothing  that  I 
so  much  enjoy  as  seeing  the  persons  and  reviving  the  memo- 


270  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

ries  of  that  early  time.  Then  came  ten  years  of  boyhood 
and  youth  in  Milton,  which  still  lives  vividly  in  my  recol- 
lection. It  was  a  chequered  kind  of  life,  with  bright  lights 
and  dark  shadows ;  but  the  light  predominates  in  memory, 
and  much  of  my  life  is  now  spent  in  living  over  again  the 
years  from  nine  to  nineteen.  From  that  time  on  things  are 
much  confused  in  my  memory.  There  came  twenty  years 
of  struggle,  unrest,  hard  work  and  poor  pay,  privation,  dis- 
cipline, disappointment ;  and  yet  the  time  was  far  from 
thrown  away.  I  fought  it  out  pretty  well,  made  some  head- 
way, and  didn't  live  for  nothing.  I  had  won  a  place  in  the 
public  consideration  and  become  of  some  service  to  the 
community,  and  had  done  it  with  pluck  and  perseverance. 
I  suffered  much  in  this  time,  but  always  enjoyed  working. 
I  was  much  away,  and  one  of  my  permanent  and  never- 
failing  pleasures,  both  of  anticipation  and  realization,  was 
going  home. 

A  square  half  century,  terminated  in  57°  west  longitude, 
with  the  water  under  me  two  miles  deep,  in  a  steamship 
with  all  the  modern  improvements  !  Steamships,  and  rail- 
roads, and  telegraphs,  and  a  thousand  other  things  have 
grown  up  with  my  growth.  It  has  been  a  stirring  age,  and 
I  am  glad  my  mind  took  the  turn  it  did  and  that  I  became 
interested  in  the  progress  of  humanity.  Much  of  the  intel- 
lectual pleasure  of  my  life  has  been  derived  from  this  cir- 
cumstance— that  I  have  looked  upon  its  more  hopeful  and 
promising  side.  To  help  it  on  somewhat,  to  do  what  I 
could  in  the  way  of  mitigation  and  amelioration,  to  con- 
tribute a  little  toward  making  the  world  somewhat  better 
than  I  found  it,  has  been  my  ambition  ;  and  although  I  have 
accomplished  but  little — very  little  in  this  great  direction — 
yet  the  purpose  was  certainly  commendable.  Perhaps  I 
have  not  come  up  to  your  standard  of  what  was  required, 
and  I  know  that  there  have  been  plenty  of  shortcomings. 
I  am  not  satisfied  with  my  life,  nor  am  I  greatly  dissatisfied. 


The  International  Scientific  Series.  271 

I  have  tried  to  do  well — tried  hard  to  do  as  well  as  I  knew 
how  in  my  own  way,  and  I  commit  myself  and  my  future  in 
hope  and  trust  to  that  Divine  Power  who  is  the  Author  of 
all  things,  whose  ways  and  works  I  have  tried  faithfully  to 
understand — the  duty  of  every  rational  being. 

You  see  I  am  now  very  much  in  my  own  mind.  It  is  a 
peculiar  occasion,  and  will  never  occur  again.  Yet  I  do  not 
forget  the  rest,  and  there  can  be  no  fitter  time  than  this  to 
acknowledge  my  deep  indebtedness  to  you,  to  my  dear 
father,  and  to  my  brothers  and  sister,  for  the  kindness  and 
self-sacrifice  I  have  experienced  from  all  of  you.  You  have 
been  very  good  to  me  in  my  past  times  of  trouble,  and  very 
patient  with  me  in  my  times  of  irritation.  I  can  never 
repay  the  obligations  and  never  sufficiently  express  my 
deep  feelings  of  gratitude.  A  thousand  heartfelt  thanks  to 
you  all.  One  of  the  profoundest  satisfactions  of  my  life 
is  that  you  and  father  are  still  spared  to  us,  and  in  circum- 
stances of  pecuniary  comfort.  May  your  remaining  days 
be  pleasant,  and  may  you  be  happy  in  the  prosperity  of 
your  children  and  in  the  prospect  of  a  future  life ! 

Your  affectionate  son,  E.  L.  YOUMANS. 

On  arriving  in  London  he  found  the  great  city 
terribly  crowded, 

LONDON,  June  if,  1871. 

DEAR  SISTER  :  I  am  here  for  sure,  as  witness  a  painful 
consciousness.  Arrived  at  Euston  Station,  I  took  a  cab  for 
the  Langham.  No  rooms.  Frightened  at  the  reports,  I 
stipulated  with  cabby  by  the  hour  and  started.  We  visited 
about  a  dozen  places  of  all  sorts,  high  and  low,  but  to  no 
purpose.  Not  a  room  anywhere,  nor  a  private  room  or 
apartment  either.  I  then  left  my  trunk  at  the  Langham 
and  went  to  37  Queen's  Gardens.  There  they  offered  me 
a  room  not  larger  than  my  stateroom,  which  of  course  I 
took.  It  is  close  and  suffocating,  and  I  have  had  a  hard 
time  in  it.  I  have  not  got  over  the  sea  yet,  my  brain  be- 


272  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

ing  stirred  up  in  the  swimming  way.  Between  that  and 
the  stifling  atmosphere  of  the  room  I  did  not  get  asleep  till 
five  this  morning,  and  my  eyes  began  to  get  hot  and  un- 
comfortable. However,  two  or  three  hours  rest  has  saved 
me,  and  I  feel  better  now,  although  much  used  up.  Spen- 
cer is  looking  very  well ;  plays  billiards  a  great  deal ;  dis- 
ciplines himself  to  amusement.  I  have  not  yet  smoked  on 
English  soil,  which  I  presume  has  much  to  do  with  my 
nervousness. 

I  have  had  a  few  minutes'  interview  with  old  Tyndall — 
very,  very  cordial  and  satisfactory.  Nothing  of  business 
was  touched,  however.  I  am  writing  in  the  Royal  Institu- 
tion, as  there  is  nowhere  else  in  London  where  I  can  get  a 
yard  of  space.  France  being  shut  up  is  the  reason  of  all 
this  crowding. 

I  dine  privately  at  Huxley's  Saturday  night  to  talk  busi- 
ness. Will  report  progress  as  soon  as  there  is  any.  If  I 
send  a  Punch,  send  it  on  west.  Spencer's  side  projects  on 
the  Sociology  are  amazingly  interesting.  He  has  been 
afraid  of  their  being  stolen  and  has  kept  them  shady,  but 
he  will  show  them  to  me.  The  pith  of  the  whole  matter 
is,  however,  that  the  speed  of  the  enterprise  depends  upon 
funds ;  and  in  consequence  of  the  prospective  delay  he  is 
already  thinking  of  going  over  to  the  Ethics  after  Volume 
I  of  the  Sociology. 

LONDON,  June  77,  1871. 

It  is  now  Saturday  afternoon.  Have  not  found  a  room 
yet;  not  a  sign  of  "apartments"  visible  in  London.  I 
have  been  a  little  lame  with  the  "  distances,"  but  am  get- 
ting better  of  it  now. 

June  23, 1871. — It  is  as  cold  as  the  very  grave  itself.  I 
sit  down  to  write  with  my  heavy  overcoat  on  and  am  shiver- 
ing. I  got  lodging  rooms  day  before  yesterday  near  Port- 
land Road  Station,  and  have  a  parlour  and  large  bedroom. 
I  ought  to  have  kept  a  fire  up,  but  going  in  and  out  con- 


The  International  Scientific  Series.  273 

stantly  I  thought  it  hardly  worth  while.  The  weather  is 
dismal,  cold,  rainy,  and  sour.  Huxley  has  grown  tremen- 
dously in  public  influence.  He  is  the  man  of  the  School 
Board,  though  there  are  other  strong  men — forty-seven — 
and  two  women. 

Tyndall  is  arranging  to  come  over  next  year.  Two 
illustrated  lectures  on  the  glaciers,  two  or  three  on  heat, 
others  on  light  and  electricity.  "I  want  you  to  take  entire 
charge  of  me  so  far  as  the  public  is  concerned  ;  my  assistant 
will  take  charge  of  the  experiments.  I  will  not  enslave 
myself.  I  will  take  it  just  as  easy  as  I  have  a  mind  to.  I 
don't  want  your  money,  nor  will  1  bring  away  one  dollar  of 
it.  I  will  help  your  scientific  institutions  with  it,  but  it 
shall  never  be  said  I  went  to  America  to  line  my  pockets. 
I  have  no  reflections  to  cast  upon  those  Englishmen  who 
have  chosen  to  do  this.  It  may  have  been  right  for  them, 
but  it  won't  do  for  me." 

I  have  not  got  hold  of  the  handle  of  my  enterprise  yet, 
but  I  gather  that  it  promises  well.  My  intention  is  to  make 
it  go  at  any  rate.  Bain  is  all  right,  and  will  be  helpful.  I 
have  this  morning  had  a  very  interesting  interview  with 
Galton.  He  thinks  well  of  the  scheme,  and,  strange  to  say, 
is  now  writing  upon  the  very  subject  I  had  assigned  to  him. 
The  British  Association  meets  at  Edinburgh  August  2d.  I 
shall  probably  stay  over  till  that  time,  and  go  from  there 
to  Liverpool.  Yet  the  thing  I  have  in  hand  is  large,  and, 
if  it  goes,  will  be  the  thing,  and  to  make  it  succeed  in  the 
fullest  manner  will  rule  my  movements  and  my  stay. 

The  following  letters  tell  their  own  story : 

LONDON,  July  4,  1871. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  I  am  anxious  to  do  all  that  is  pos- 
sible to  extend  and  establish  the  arrangement  you  are 
making  with  English  authors — arrangements  which  prac- 
tically amount  to  international  copyright. 


274  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

Having  for  the  last  ten  years  benefited  so  greatly  by  the 
arrangements  you  have  made  with  the  Appletons  on  my 
behalf,  which  have  put  me  on  a  footing  as  good  as  the 
American  authors,  I  have  the  best  possible  reasons  for 
thinking  that  the  interests  of  English  authors  will  be  sub- 
served in  a  very  important  degree  by  the  success  of  the 
negotiations  which  you  have  come  over  here  to  carry  out. 
Various  of  my  scientific  friends  who  have  reaped  pecuniary 
and  other  advantages  from  the  contracts  you  have  made 
for  them  will,  I  am  sure,  coincide  in  this  expression  of 
opinion. 

From  the  conversation  I  had  with  Mr.  Appleton  when 
he  was  here  recently,  it  was  manifest  to  me  that  he  was 
anxious  to  carry  out  in  his  relations  with  other  English 
authors  the  same  equitable  system  from  which  I  and  some 
others  have  gained  ;  and  now  that  he  has  given  you  full 
powers  to  make  engagements  in  pursuance  of  this  system 
I  think  it  very  desirable  that  all  should  co-operate.  Stand- 
ing so  high  as  the  Appletons  do,  alike  in  respect  to  the 
character  of  the  works  they  publish  and  in  the  extent  of 
their  business,  it  appears  to  me  clear  that  this  system  which 
they  are  adopting  needs  only  to  be  known  and  understood 
by  English  authors  to  be  at  once  accepted  by  them. 

Pray  make  use  of  this  letter  in  any  way  that  will  further 
your  negotiations.  Ever  yours  sincerely, 

HERBERT  SPENCER. 

To  which  Prof.  Huxley  added : 

I  have  read  Mr.  Spencer's  note,  and  entirely  agree  with 
what  he  has  said.  T.  H.  HUXLEY. 

Then  came  this  additional  indorsement : 

ROYAL  INSTITUTION,  July  5,  1871. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  I  am  equally  desirous  with  my 
friend  Mr.  Spencer  to  do  all  that  is  possible  to  extend  and 


The  International  Scientific  Series.  275 

establish  the  arrangement  you  are  making  with  English 
authors,  and  which  will  practically  amount  to  international 
copyright. 

Let  me  also  add  the  expression  of  my  personal  recog- 
nition of  the  excellent  service  which  you  have  already  ren- 
dered to  English  authors  in  America. 

Most  faithfully  yours,  JOHN  TYNDALL. 


Sir  John  Lubbock  added : 

I  entirely  agree  with  Prof.  Tyndall. 


JOHN  LUBBOCK. 


Youmans  did  not  find  his  task  an  easy  one.  A 
good  many  of  the  authors  he  called  upon  had  been 
engaged  as  contributors  to  the  Journal,  and  were  dis- 
appointed in  it  as  an  educational  medium.  Others 
were  so  committed  to  their  publishers  that  they  could 
not  join  in  the  series  proposed.  Some  men,  so  emi- 
nent as  specialists  as  to  be  well-nigh  indispensable, 
were  too  busy  to  write  or  mistrusted  their  ability  to 
write  acceptably.  Not  a  few  bluntly  stated  their 
opinion  that  the  series  would  not  "go."  But  You- 
mans was  not  the  man  to  be  either  discouraged  or 
baffled.  He  knew  his  project  to  be  sound,  and  he 
advanced  it  with  all  the  address  at  his  command. 
Some  of  the  incidents  of  the  summer  may  be  cited 

from  his  letters  : 

LONDON,  July  15,  1871. 

DEAR  SISTER  :  Cunarder  day  has  come  around  again, 
and  therefore  again  I  write — not  that  a  week  makes  much 
difference  in  things.  I  have  now  been  here  a  round  month 
— to  what  end,  you  ask  ?  Well,  to  no  end — hardly  to  a  be- 
ginning, and  still  possibly  to  some  purpose.  I  am  pretty 
sharply  at  issue  with  my  former  failure,*  which  is  just  as 

*  I.  e.,  of  Appletons'  Journal. 


276  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

far  from  being  forgotten  as  possible.  I  did  my  other  work 
too  effectually,  as  I  now  find.  They  seem  to  have  believed 
in  me  awfully,  and  there  is  something  proportional  in  the 
reaction.  They  listen  now  with  a  kind  of  rapt  incredulity 
as  I  expand  and  expound  and  "  expredge  "  myself  on  Occi- 
dental possibilities.  Yet  my  case  is  so  strong  that  it  gives 
me  the  inside  track,  and  they  are  precious  careful  about 
bluffing  me.  It  turns  out  when  I  get  here,  and  get  serious 
hold  of  my  subject,  that  I  have  in  hand  a  pretty  large  thing. 
Its  importance  grows  upon  me,  and  when  I  think  of  the 
quality  and  difficulty  and  delicacy  of  the  enterprise,  and  of 
the  important  consequences  that  may  flow  from  it,  although 
nothing  is  completed  and  all  is  in  the  crudest  grizzle,  I  am 
anything  but  dissatisfied  with  the  aspect  of  things.  It  will 
take  but  three  weeks  more  to  decide  it.  The  British  As- 
sociation meets  in  Edinburgh  August  2d.  I  shall  fumble 
till  that  occasion,  and  then  act. 

Darwin  was  in  town  this  week  and  called  on  Mr.  W.  H. 
Appleton,  who  presented  me.  I  was  invited  to  lunch 
Wednesday  at  his  brother's,  Mr.  Erasmus  Darwin.  There 
were  Mr.  D.,  Mrs.  D.,  Miss  D.,  and  Master  D.  It  was 
altogether  juicy  and  jolly.  This  was  fresh  material — no 
dregs  of  '68 — and  it  went  with  a  rush.  I  took  Mrs.  D.  in 
to  lunch.  They  were  all  curiosity  about  America.  Mr.  D. 
had  just  resolved  to  send  two  of  his  boys  across  the 
Atlantic,  and  they  leave  the  last  of  August.  I  told  him 
about  my  lecturing  the  Brooklyn  clergymen  on  evolution. 
"  What !  "  said  he,  "  clergymen  of  different  denominations 
all  together  ?  How  they  would  fight  if  you  should  get 
them  together  here ! "  They  were  greatly  amused  with  a 
spiritualistic  paper  they  had  received  from  Chicago,  which 
stated  that  if  it  were  known  that  God  were  dead  Beecher 
would  be  unanimously  elected  by  the  American  people  to 
fill  his  place. 

Well,  my  point  is  this:    that   Mr.   Darwin    insisted  on 


The  International  Scientific  Series.  277 

having  my  project  brought  up  at  the  British  Association 
and  indorsed  there.  I  am  going  to  dine  with  his  boys  on 
Monday  night,  at  the  new  University  Club,  to  post  them 
up  a  little  before  they  start  for  America.  Of  course  I  can- 
not at  this  stage  ask  Spencer,  Tyndall,  Huxley,  or  Lub- 
bock  to  go  in  on  the  enterprise,  but  I  must  make  them  as 
available  as  possible  to  get  other  men.  Tyndall  sees  my 
position  and  has  gone  farthest  in  the  way  of  promise.  He 
asked  me  what  I  thought  of  Helmholtz.  I  said,  "  He  is 
worth  the  whole  of  you."  Tyndall  said,  "I  think  you  can 
get  him."  He  gave  me  a  note  at  once,  and  I  wrote  the 
same  day  to  Helmholtz,  at  Berlin,  and  to  Bancroft.*  I  got 
a  reply  yesterday  from  the  latter,  offering  all  Germany  if 
I  wanted  it.  He  went  immediately  to  see  Helmholtz,  who 
is  to  be  in  Scotland  in  August.  He  sent  also  a  capital  letter 
to  him.  And  thus  it  goes,  slowly,  but  as  fast  as  it  can  ; 
and,  as  I  said,  I  shall  know  by  the  middle  of  August  where 
I  stand.  .  .  . 

July  77,  1871. — Having  worn  out  my  boots  kicking 
against  the  pricks,  I  take  no  further  part  nor  lot  in  that 
sort  of  work.  I  go  in  for  this  world  from  this  date.  As 
evidence  of  my  sincerity  I  have  bought  a  swallow-tail,  and 
I  wear  it.  I  prayed  that  this  cup  might  pass  from  me,  but 
the  world's  scientific  salvation  required  that  I  should  drink 
it  to  the  dregs.  I  found  it,  if  not  indispensable,  at  least 
important  to  my  enterprise  not  to  be  singular,  but  to  con- 
form wherever  it  is  possible.  I  took  Addie's  advice — told 
her  just  exactly  how  I  was  situated,  and  told  her  I  had  the 
most  perfect  faith  in  the  infallibility  of  her  judgment,  and 
I  would  abide  by  it  implicitly.  "I  am  afraid,"  said  she,  "if 
I  were  in  your  place  I  should  get  a  swallow-tail."  And  it 
was  so. 

August  77,  7c?/7. — The  present  budget,  if  it  reaches  you, 
will  tell  the  story  of  my  work.  It  is  a  success  just  as  far 

*  The  historian  George  Bancroft,  then  minister  to  Germany. 


278  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

as  a  prospective  thing  of  considerable  complication  can  be. 
My  experience  in  Edinburgh  was  disgusting,  but  it  answered 
its  purpose.  A  bewildering  crush  excited  everybody.  It 
was  more  than  the  city  was  worth  to  find  anybody.  When 
found,  no  one  had  a  minute,  and  if  they  gave  you  their 
ears  for  a  moment  they  did  not  give  their  attention.  I  was 
miserable  and  unfit  to  be  out,  and  yet  the  thing  was  most 
decidedly  advanced.  I  should,  however,  have  had  far  more 
trouble  but  for  Spencer.  When,  therefore,  I  found  his 
note,*  which  I  send,  I  cannot  say  that  I  was  surprised,  but 
I  was  certainly  greatly  pleased,  for  I  needed  him.  I  could 
not  see.  I  could  find  nobody,  and  was  swamped  in  the  tur- 
moil. He  took  hold  earnestly,  and  it  was  splendid  to  see 
him  work.  He  got  interested,  and  before  I  get  through  I 
shall  have  a  work  from  him  for  the  series,  and  perhaps  one 
jointly  with  Collier,  on  the  Principles  of  Evolution.  He 
said  the  first  day  that  we  should  have  a  meeting,  and  we 
fixed  the  time  for  Friday,  10.30  A.  M.  He  wrote  several 
notes  of  invitation  ;  I  wrote  the  rest.  Our  room  was  in  the 
university  where  the  sections  met.  This  proved  fortunate. 
We  had  Huxley,  Carpenter,  Balfour  Stewart,  Bain,  Spencer, 
and  a  Dr.  Lindsay,  of  Perth,  with  whom  I  had  had  corre- 
spondence regarding  a  book  on  the  minds  of  the  lower  ani- 
mals. I  went  over  my  plan  in  detail  and  answered  all  sorts 
of  questions.  Huxley  backed  me  up  grandly,  and  told  how 
much  he  had  received  from  the  Appletons  for  reprints. 
After  some  discussion  about  an  English  editor  for  the 
series,  it  was  decided  that  Huxley,  Tyndall,  and  Spencer 
be  an  advisory  committee  to  consult  with  the  London  pub- 
lisher. Michael  Foster,  who  is  to  write  on  the  Involuntary 
Movements  of  Animals,  may  be  added. 

The  last  day  Spencer  was  in  Edinburgh  I  couldn't  find 

*  MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  Here  I  am,  come  to  help  you.     You  will  find 
me  at  the  Waterloo  Hotel,  Room  No,  40.         Ever  yours, 

HERBERT  SPENCER. 


The  International  Scientific  Series.  279 

him,  but  he  left  a  note  for  me  saying  that  he  had  seen  Clif- 
ford and  Dyer.  I  had  to  get  part  of  my  circular  on  the 
series  printed  in  London  and  had  the  names  added  in  Edin- 
burgh. They  are  weighty,  as  you  see,  and  the  little  docu- 
ment carries  everything  before  it.  Hooker  suggested  Dyer 
to  Spencer  as  one  of  the  most  promising  young  botanists 
of  the  age,  and  he  is  realty  a  splendid  fellow.  Clifford  is 
also  immensely  strong.  Huxley  says  he  is  the  only  man  in 
England  who  can  do  the  work  he  is  engaged  for.  Edward 
Smith  is  the  authority  on  diet.  Tylor  is  great  on  primitive 
man — greater  than  Lubbock — but  he  may  not  be  able  to 
leave  his  present  publisher.  I  have  other  subjects  and 
other  men  in  anticipation,  and  shall  stay  till  the  thing  is 
quite  crystallized.  Spencer  said:  "  Be  deliberate,  and  don't 
go  till  all  is  closed  up."  He  enjoys  my  success.  But  I 
must  stop,  for  I  am  completely  used  up  with  this  wretched 
cold. 

The  circular  inclosed  with  the  foregoing  letter 
said  : 

The  attention  of  English  scientific  writers  is  asked  to  a 
project  of  international  publication  which  has  both  public 
and  personal  claims  to  their  consideration.  It  is  in  con- 
templation to  prepare  a  series  of  monographs  or  elaborate 
essays  on  selected  scientific  topics,  and  in  a  form  suited  for 
wide  circulation.  The  general  aim  of  the  series  will  be  to 
give  authentic,  popular  expression  to  the  latest  advances  of 
thought  on  the  leading  subjects  of  progressive  inquiry. 
The  recent  and  more  important  steps  of  physical  investiga- 
tion will  come  within  its  scope,  and  those  interpretations  of 
Nature  which  have  undergone  marked  revision  within  a  re- 
cent period.  Yet  it  is  desired  to  give  especial  prominence 
to  those  branches  of  biological,  psychological,  and  social 
science  which  help  to  a  better  understanding  of  human 
nature  and  the  economy  of  human  life. 


280  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

As  these  works  are  designed  to  address  the  unscientific 
public,  they  will  require  to  be  thoroughly  explanatory  and 
expository  in  character.  It  is  hoped  to  secure  in  this  series 
the  greatest  freedom  from  technicalities  and  the  utmost 
simplicity  of  style  compatible  with  clearness  and  precision 
of  scientific  presentation.  The  form  of  publication  pro- 
posed is  that  of  handbooks  of  ffom  two  hundred  to  three 
hundred  pages,  about  four  hundred  words  to  a  page.  They 
will  be  issued  in  uniform  style,  with  some  suitable  title 
for  the  series.  Illustrations  will  be  employed  wherever 
needful. 

The  subjects  treated  being  of  equal  interest  to  people 
of  different  countries,  it  is  proposed  to  organize  the  under- 
taking upon  an  international  basis.  The  proposition  comes 
from  the  United  States,  which  will  give  efficient  support  to 
such  an  enterprise.  That  country  now  contains  a  popula- 
tion of  nearly  forty  millions,  eminently  a  reading  and  book- 
buying  people.  Education  is  extending  and  improving 
among  them,  and  the  interest  in  science,  especially  in  its 
progressive  aspects,  is  also  becoming  more  earnest  and 
general.  There  are  good  grounds  for  believing,  therefore, 
that  such  a  scheme  of  publications  as  that  now  contem- 
plated— essentially  popular  and  carrying  the  weight  of 
authoritative  names — would  have  an  extensive  American 
patronage,  and  would  become  a  powerful  agency  of  public 
education. 

To  secure  the  international  advantages  of  such  a  series 
of  books  to  English  authors,  they  will  be  produced  by 
London  publishers  who  will  pay  the  most  liberal  rates. 
Duplicate  stereotype  plates  will  then  be  taken  for  reprint- 
ing in  the  United  States,  and  the  books  will  be  simul- 
taneously issued  in  the  two  countries.  The  American  pub- 
lishers will  engage  to  pay  the  foreign  contributors  to  the 
series  the  usual  rates  that  are  allowed  to  American  authors. 
The  project,  in  fact,  implies  that  the  English  authors  are  to 


The  International  Scientific  Series.  281 

be  voluntarily  allowed  the  practical  benefits  of  an  inter- 
national copyright  law.  The  subscriber  has  devoted  him- 
self for  several  years  past  to  bringing  about  an  arrange- 
ment of  this  kind,  and  may  refer  to  Profs.  Tyndall, 
Huxley,  and  Bain,  to  Sir  John  Lubbock,  Messrs.  Darwin, 
Spencer,  Lecky,  Galton,  and  Mill,  who  have  had  experience 
of  its  benefits.  In  its  business  aspects,  therefore,  the  pres- 
ent enterprise  is  but  an  extension  of  a  policy  already  exist- 
ing, and  it  is  now  proposed  to  enlarge  the  circle  of  authors 
who  may  reap  its  advantages.  Further  information  regard- 
ing the  project  can  be  had  by  addressing  the  subscriber, 

E.  L.  YOUMANS. 
16  LITTLE  BRITAIN,  LONDON,  August,  1871. 

The  story  goes  on  with  the  letters: 

LONDON,  August  /<?,  1871. 

MY  DEAR  SISTER  :  .  .  .  I  got  a  note  from  Dr.  Hooker 
asking  me  to  come  over  to  Kew  and  dine  with  him,  as  he 
was  quite  alone.  Spencer  had  spoken  to  him  of  my  proj- 
ect, and  he  had  suggested  Dyer.  I  had  a  very  interesting 
time  with  him.  He  mentioned  receiving  your  book,  and 
asked  after  you.  He  said  :  "  That  was  an  admirable  little 
effort — //  came  very  near  being  a  great  book ;  it  was  much  better 
for  beginners  than  any  they  have  in  England.  .  By-the-by, 
why  don't  Miss  Youmans  put  herself  into  relation  with  Dr. 
Gray  ?  He  is  the  greatest  botanist  in  America,  and  author 
of  the  best  series  of  botanical  schoolbooks  in  the  world, 
but  his  first  book  is  not  sufficiently  simple  for  children."  I 
asked  him  why  they  did  not  take  the  thing  up  here,  and  give 
us  a  model  child's  book  on  Prof.  Henslow's  method.  He 
replied  :  "  Oh,  don't  ask.  We  can  do  nothing  here.  Eng- 
land is  convulsed  with  the  effort  of  trying  to  teach  children 
to  read.  The  stupid  conservatism  of  England  is  incalculable. 
Look  at  Prof.  Henslow's  work  at  Hitcham !  He  worked  there, 
in  that  parish,  twenty  years,  and  revolutionized  it  so  that 
13 


282  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

people  came  from  all  over  Europe  to  see  what  had  been  done. 
But  not  a  single  thing  that  he  did  influenced  in  the  slight- 
est degree  a  single  adjacent  parish.  And  when  he  died  the 
work  stopped,  and  nothing  has  been  done  since.  I  don't 
know ;  perhaps  something  may  be  done  after  a  while. 
Strong  men  are  at  work,  and  they  have  begun  at  the  right 
end ;  perhaps  something  will  be  brought  about  after  a 
while. 

LONDON,  August  79,  7877. 

And  now  next  morning  some  more  Hookerian  reminis- 
cence. He  speaks  unreservedly  of  Spencer;  says  "Spen- 
cer is  the  mighty  thinker  among  us.  And  what  a  splendid 
talker !  He  talks  right  at  you  like  a  book,  and  his  language 
is  so  fluent  and  adaptive!  He  is  all  right  now.  The  recog- 
nition of -his  genius  is  now  complete.  What  a  lucky  thing 
it  was  that  he  failed  in  getting  a  consulate  or  some  other 
public  appointment  when  he  began  his  Philosophy !  Had  he 
succeeded,  we  never  should  have  heard  of  the  Philosophy. 
The  things  are  absolutely  incompatible.  No  man  can  do 
great  original  work  and  be  hampered  by  the  cares  of  a 
position.  The  thing  is  impossible.  The  work  must  have 
the  whole  man.  That  is  why  I  have  tried  to  get  Gray  free. 
You  Americans  don't  know  how  much  of  a  man  Gray  is ; 
but  he  is  hampered  with  students'  work,  and  is  not  able  to 
keep  an  assistant.  When  you  were  working  for  Spencer  on 
the  other  side  I  was  working  for  Gray  here.  I  thought  I 
had  got  it  arranged  all  right.  I  obtained  a  promise  from 
Peabody  to  give  money  enough  to  relieve  Gray  and  let 
him  go  on  with  original  research  ;  but  when  he  got  over 
there  they  worked  at  him  and  defeated  all  the  good  of  the 
plan.  He  gave  his  money  to  Harvard  College.  Gray  re- 
ceived no  help,  and  the  only  effect  was  to  pile  on  him  one 
more  official  burden.  You  did  better  for  Spencer.  Your 
work  told  just  where  it  should.  You  have  a  very  honour- 
able share  in  his  success." 


The  International  Scientific  Series.  283 

LONDON,  September  13,  1871. 

My  DEAR  SISTER  :  I  am  astonished  to  write  this  date — 
how  the  time  slips  !  Of  myself  what  shall  I  say  ?  I  have 
constantly  reported  myself  better  of  an  infernal  cold  which 
has  had  me  in  its  clutches  a  month.  I  have  been  down 
sick  and  confined  to  my  room  with  it  for  nearly  a  week. 
I  am  certainly  better  to-day  than  for  the  past  several 
days. 

I  have  been  immensely  reconciled  and  comforted  men- 
tally by  my  progress.  Mr.  Appleton  will  be  here  in  a  few 
days,  and  then  the  business  aspect  of  affairs  can  be  set- 
tled. 

I  have  turned  up  a  new  thing  with  regard  to  Spencer. 
He  has  heard  that  Emerson  characterized  him  as  a  "  stock 
writer,"  which  means  a  "  job  writer."  His  disgust  is  un- 
speakable ;  he  has  been  for  the  past  week  gathering  up  the 
proofs  that  he  has  had  one  method  from  the  beginning, 
that  he  has  never  written  a  single  article  proposed  by  any- 
body else;  that  he  had  the  law  of  evolution  worked  out  as 
the  basis  of  a  philosophy  before  Darwin  or  Wallace  ever 
published  a  line  about  it.  You  know  he  applied  at  first  for 
a  Government  situation  to  help  him.  He  yesterday  handed 
me  the  letters  to  Government  on  his  behalf  from  Huxley, 
Tyndall,  Mill,  Latham,  Fraser,  Hooker,  Holland,  Grote,  and 
Sir  G.  C.  Lewis.  It  astonished  me.  They  recognized  as 
far  back  as  1858  that  he  was  the  man  to  make  a  new  or- 
ganon  of  philosophy. 

I  play  billiards  every  night  with  Spencer  after  dinner ; 
game  fifty,  but  one  red  ball,  which  thins  out  the  chances*. 
Scratches  here  are  flukes.  Spencer  gives  me  thirty,  and 
then  I  get  to  fifty  first  about  as  one  to  three.  But  I  do  a 
stupendous  amount  of  fluking,  sometimes  to  Spencer's 
great  disgust.  We  started  the  other  night  and  I  fluked  up 
to  fifty  before  he  got  one.  He  stands  aghast !  I  assure 
him  that  it  is  merely  my  general  way. 


284  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

* 

LONDON,  October  7,  1871. 

Things  are  getting  thick  and  exciting.  I  can't  leave  yet, 
and  know  no  more  when  I  shall  return  than  I  did  at  first. 
I  am  here  to  do  a  certain  work,  and  do  it  I  shall. 

Henry  S.  King  &  Co.,  a  new  concern,  are  to  be  the 
London  publishers  of  the  series.  They  will  drive  it  with 
energy,  and  are  bound  to  make  a  success.  The  only  ap- 
parent remaining  difficulty  is  to  transfer  authors  to  the  new 
house.  Several  are  sure,  some  doubtful,  and  there  are  four 
hopeless,  but  their  places  can  be  supplied.  It  is  infinitely 
fortunate  that  Mr.  Appleton  has  been  here  to  advise  with, 
decide,  and  close  matters  on  the  spot.  .  .  . 

As  to  my  returning,  don't  think  about  it.  I  am  bound 
to  this  enterprise,  and,  much  as  I  want  to  go,  I  shall  be 
guided  absolutely  by  its  requirements.  I'm  the  man  to  do 
the  work  ;  nobody  else  can.  If  the  thing  shapes  as  it  now 
promises  I  shall  go  to  Berlin.  Bancroft  knows  all  about 
the  project,  and  told  Mr.  Appleton  he  wanted  me  to  come 
by  all  means.  The  learned  men  of  Germany  are  soon  to 
be  gathered  there,  and  B.  knows  them.  My  hopes  are 
therefore  that  I  shall  be  detained  a  month  or  six  weeks 
longer,  so  good-bye  for  the  present. 

LONDON,  October  21,  1871. 

We  know  the  lessons  of  caution  pretty  well — that  nothing 
is  sure  till  realized — but  caution  may  become  a  disease,  and 
then  we  can  realize  and  still  not  feel  sure.  My  project  is 
now  as  certain  as  any  human  thing  contingent  upon  human 
conditions  can  be.  I  had  a  hope  in  this  direction  when  I 
left  you,  but  the  result  immensely  transcends  it.  All  the 
arrangements  have  been  closed  with  Mr.  King,  and  on  the 
most  liberal  basis.  I  am  going  to  Berlin  next  week — first, 
to  get  some  new  authors  for  the  series';  second,  to  get  the 
series  republished ;  third,  to  get  Spencer  republished  in 
German ;  fourth,  to  get  a  German  student  for  Spencer  to 


The  International  Scientific  Series.  285 

assist  in  carrying  out  his  great  sociological  project,  which 
I  will  explain  to  you  when  I  return. 

It  is  now  in  my  power  to  extend  the  scheme  largely, 
and  now  is  the  moment  to  do  it.  The  series  in  five  years 
will  run  up  to  seventy-five  or  one  hundred  volumes.  It 
will  be  the  world's  popular  cyclopaedia  of  reading  science. 
Spencer  is  delighted  but  half  bewildered  ;  every  once  in  a 
while  he  breaks  out,  "Who  would  have  thought  such  a 
result  would  arrive  from  your  first  beginnings  with  me?" 
The  letter  in  the  Times,  of  course,  greatly  pleases  him.* 
He  says  this  whole  movement  is  going  to  revolutionize  the 
position  of  English  authors. 

LONDON,  November  2,  1871. 

King  proves  to  be  our  man — a  wide-awake,  whole- 
hearted fellow.  The  thing  is  now  just  as  much  a  success 
as  a  prospective  thing  can  be,  and  I  shall  be  easy,  but  there 
has  been  so  much  to  do  which  I  alone  can  do  that  it  has 
worn  upon  me  hard.  I  mean  to  take  it  easier,  come  what 
will.  I  go  by  Paris  to  Berlin,  and  Spencer  goes  to  Paris 
with  me.  We  expect  to  go  to-morrow,  if  I  can.  The  days 
are  crowded  with  incidents  relating  to  the  enterprise,  but  I 
have  neither  time  nor  strength  to  write  of  them.  I  began 
a  letter  to  the  Times  on  copyright,  but  have  had  to  post- 
pone it  till  I  come  back. 

PARIS,  November  12,  1871. 

Things  are  still  going  prosperously  with  the  interna- 
tional scheme.  France  is  committed,  and  I  have  just  re- 
ceived a  French  note  from  the  publisher  pledging  ten 
books  from  the  ablest  men  in  France.  One  of  them  will 
soon  be  ready.  Prof.  Ribot,  one  of  Spencer's  translators, 
who  lives  at  Laval,  two  hundred  miles  away,  came  to  Paris 
to  meet  us.  He  has  nearly  done  a  book  entitled  Heredity  : 
A  Psychological  Study — in  first,  its  facts ;  second,  its  laws  ; 

*  Mr.  W.  H.  Appleton  had  just  written  an  excellent  letter  on  inter- 
national copyright,  which  was  published  in  the  London  Times. 


286  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

third,  its  causes ;  fourth^  its  consequences.  He  is  able,  and 
will  make  a  first-rate  book,  which  I  presume  the  committee 
will  pass.  I  was  so  doubtful  of  France  that  I  did  not 
think  it  worth  attempting,  and  should  not  have  come  here 
at  all  if  Spencer  hadn't  proposed  it;  but  it  has  been  a 
profitable  week,  and  to  have  got  French  co-operation  in 
the  undertaking  will  be  a  great  thing.  I  leave  to-morrow 
morning  for  Berlin  via  Cologne. 

Complicated  with  all  my  embarrassments  here — short 
time,  nobody  at  home,  difficulty  of  interpretation,  torments 
with  cab-drivers,  etc. — has  been  another  thing.  Spencer 
wanted  to  do  some  work  here,  and  tried  to  get  an  amanu- 
ensis, vexing  his  soul  for  three  whole  days,  and,  failing  at 
last,  I  could  do  no  less  than  offer  to  write  for  him.  Hux- 
ley pitched  into  him — gently — recently  about  his  nongov- 
ernment theories,  and  attacked  a  special  point  of  his  Social 
Organism.  Spencer  couldn't  stand  it,  so  he  said,  "  Hux- 
ley has  been  rampaging  round  about  long  enough;  he  must 
be  pulled  up."  I  wrote  twenty  pages  of  manuscript;  the 
article  is  to  be  very  able  and  instructive,  and  Huxley  will 
get  more  than  he  bargained  for.  It  will  appear  in  the 
Fortnightly. 

But  it  is  nearly  night.  I  have  to  go  and  see  if  I  can 
find  Milne  Edwards  at  the  Garden  of  Plants,  to  pack,  and 
do  several  other  things,  for  all  business  must  be  dispatched 
to-night,  as  we  start  early  to-morrow  morning. 

BERLIN,  November  ij,  1871. 

I  am  now  in  the  capital  of  the  German  Empire,  unable 
to  understand  a  word  that  anybody  says.  I  got  here 
Tuesday  night  late,  and  had  a  pretty  hard  fight  to  find  a 
hotel ;  but  I  am  well  situated  at  the  Hotel  d'Angleterre, 
which,  being  interpreted,  means  the  English  Hotel,  though 
it  is  quite  Dutch  enough.  I  have  had  to  hire  a  "  commis- 
sioner." He  is  a  pretty  good  kind  of  a  Dutchman. 

France  was  dispatched  quickly  because  Paris  is  France. 


The  International  Scientific  Scries.  287 

It  is  otherwise  here.  The  men  are  scattered,  and  Mr.  Ban- 
croft says  that  although  everybody  can  read  here,  and 
there  is  great  boasting  of  "universal  education,"  yet  there 
is  no  place  in  the  world  where  there  is  on  the  part  of  the 
learned  such  contempt  for  popular  education,  or  such  shal- 
low and  worthless  trash  as  they  write  when  they  attempt  to 
write  for  "  the  people."  He  says  this  business  of  mine  will 
be  a  new  thing  to  them,  and  it  remains  to  be  seen  how  they 
will  regard  it.  He  has  invited  Helmholtz,  Virchow,  and 
Du  Bois-Reymond  to  meet  me  at  dinner  on  Sunday,  and  I 
shall  then  probably  be  able  to  find  out  something  of  the 
prospect.  I  had  a  letter  to  Haeckel,  of  Jena  (six  hours 
from  here),  from  Huxley,  and  have  sent  it  to  him  with  a 
message,  but  have  heard  nothing  yet.  I  am  not  sanguine 
about  results  here ;  everything  is  so  scattered. 

.  .  .  Germany  is  not  going  to  suit  me.  They  are  too 
cocky.  "We  don't  want  your  translations;  we  can  make 
our  own  books;  the  talent  is  here,"  is  the  way  the  publish- 
ers talk.  On  the  other  hand,  I  find  that  scientific  men  here 
have  a  contempt  for  "  popularization  "  more  intense  than 
anywhere  else.  They  ostentatiously  despise  it  and  the 
countries  that  tolerate  it.  It  looks  like  a  very  bad  market 
for  my  pigs,  but  I  am  going  to  know  more  about  it  before 
I  get  through.  I  shall  meet  Helmholtz,  Virchow,  and 
Du  Bois-Reymond  at  Bancroft's  on  Sunday,  and  I  shall  try 
and  find  out  a  few  things.  But  it  will  not  trouble  me  if 
they  don't  want  the  series.  I  am  bound  to  have  something 
out  of  them,  which  will  strengthen  us.  I  have  called  on 
Asher,  a  leading  publisher  here.  He  says  I  hold  all  the 
cards  so  far  as  authors  are  concerned,  and  cannot  fail  to 
win,  but  as  for  the  publishers  he  don't  see  it.  He  talks 
English,  and  is  wide  awake.  I  am  afraid  there  is  no  show 
to  get  Spencer  translated  here.  They  have  never  heard  of 
him,  and  there  is  great  contempt  for  English  "  philosophy." 
While  they  do  not  jump  headforemost  into  my  traps,  I 


288  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

have   nevertheless   a   great  respect   for  these   Dutchmen. 
They  are  strong,  self-reliant,  and  honest. 

Bancroft  is  extremely  obliging  and  attentive.  I  have 
met  Helmholtz,  Reymond,  and  Virchow  at  his  table,  and  it 
was  pleasant  and  interesting,  of  course,  but  business  was 
interdicted,  and  nothing  was  gained.  I  shall  go  to  Leipsic 
in  a  day  or  two  to  satisfy  myself  about  some  things,  and 
then  work  my  passage  back  to  London.  It  is  a  horrid, 
stupid  place  here. 

BERLIN,  November  23,  1871. 

And  so  you  wonder  that  I  can  care  for  anything  !  Well, 
I  don't  much — not  much;  the  caring  time  is  past — dregs 
only  remain.  Half  a  hundred  years,  and  to  what  end  ? 
What  a  confounded  sell  life  turns  out  to  be!  The  only 
interest  is  in  studying  it.  I  am  afraid  there  is  too  much 
truth  in  that  old  philosophic  view,  that  "  the  interest  is  in 
the  chase  and  dies  with  the  capture."  And  so  I  think  I 
shall  go  to  bed  at  ten  o'clock,  two  hours  earlier  than  usual. 
To  bed !  and  such  a  bed — not  a  sheet,  not  a  blanket,  but 
only  a  kind  of  narrow  feather-bed ;  they  call  it  down  that 
you  have  to  sleep  under,  and  you  can't  sleep  under  it.  I 
woke  up  a  hundred  times  during  the  night  with  divers 
parts  of  my  body  out  in  the  air.  One  hauls  them  in,  but 
to  what  purpose  ?  You  reawaken  with  only  a  variation  of 
the  exposure.  I  have  augmented  my  cold  here,  and  shall 
quit  the  ranch  to-morrow.  It  seems  to  me  that  if  a  social 
organism  were  constructed  especially  to  get  the  least  out 
of  life,  to  thwart  it  all  round  and  make  discomfort  a  policy, 
these  Dutch  would  take  the  premium ! 

And  on  that  I  went  to  bed,  and  here  I  am,  November 
25th,  at  Leipsic,  a  hundred  miles  south  of  Berlin.  I  had  a 
letter  to  one  important  man ;  he  is  dead.  To  another,  and 
he  is  so  sick  I  have  been  unable  to  see  him.  It  snows, 
rains,  sleets,  and  is  dark,  muddy,  and  detestable  in  Leipsic. 
Not  a  publisher  can  speak  a  word  of  English  in  Leipsic. 


The  International  Scientific  Series.  289 

I  got  lost,  and  could  not  remember  the  name  of  my  hotel, 
and  wandered  through  the  mud,  and  asked  the  Dutchmen 
where  I  lived  in  Leipsic.  I  feel  that  I  am  at  the  extremest 
point  of  my  Quixotic  career  in  Leipsic.  I  turn  round  to- 
morrow, and  start  for  home  via  Berlin,  Brussels,  Brunswick, 
Ostend,  Dover,  and  London.  ...  It  is  the  morning  of  Sun- 
day, 26th,  and  I  am  packed  for  Berlin.  I  have  this  morn- 
ing seen  the  sick  man — Prof.  Charmac,  a  passionate  physi- 
ologist, rich,  who  is  going  to  build  a  great  popular  school  of 
physiology — in  wretched  health;  speaks  English  fluently; 
had  a  letter  to  him  from  Foster;  is  in  sympathy  with  my 
project,  and  will  help  the  German  end  of  it.  I  shall  be  in 
Berlin  to-night ;  shall  try  and  leave  there  to-morrow  night 
for  Brunswick,  if  I  can  get  through.  My  bane  and  the 
bane  of  my  enterprise  is  overhaste.  The  Dutch  are  pro- 
digiously slow.  They  continue  as  ever  to  have  their  doubts, 
and  I  find  it  awful  hard  work  to  wait.  Still,  it  will  have  to 
be  done  but  once,  like  gravitation  and  evolution,  and  so  I 
contrive  to  be  patient. 

But  things  were  moving  in  deliberate  old  Ger- 
many much  faster  than  our  good  friend  realized,  and 
the  tone  of  the  next  letter  is  more  cheerful. 

LONDON,  December  2,  1871. 

DEAR  SISTER  :  I  am  back  from  Germany  more  dead 
than  alive,  but  still  a  good  deal  vital.  It  has  been  a 
strange  experience,  that  of  the  last  month,  but  it  has  been 
a  success  as  far  as  such  an  expedition  could  be  so.  I  wrote 
you  of  France.  Germany  came  into  line  more  readily,  and, 
I  think,  more  effectually.  I  have  arranged  for  the  exten- 
sion of  the  series  to  Germany.  Brockhaus,  the  great 
house  of  Leipsic,  will  probably  publish  the  series,  paying 
foreign  authors  seven  and  a  half  per  cent.  There  is  a  Ger- 
man committee,  of  which  two  members  are  professors  of 
the  University  of  Berlin — Virchow  and  Rosenthal — the  third 


2QO  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

being  Prof.  Charmac,  of  the  University  of  Leipsic.  Ger- 
many is  more  ripe  for  the  movement  than  even  England ; 
its  best  men  can  be  procured.  It  was  Huxley's  name 
which  carried  the  thing  there.  Spencer  will  in  time  reap 
his  greatest  conquest  in  Germany.  The  whole  nation  is 
pervaded  with  religious  skepticism,  and  they  are  without 
any  philosophic  guidance.  Spencer's  subject  on  the  list 
interested  them  more  than  any  other,  and  with  the  publica- 
tion of  his  little  book,  which  I  bullied  him  to  write,*  there 
will  be  a  prompt  demand  for  the  Philosophy.  When  I 
wrote  this  to  Spencer  the  old  fellow  waked  up,  went  down 
to  King  after  some  circulars,  and  entered  at  once  upon  the 
work  of  finding  a  writer.  .  .  . 

I  told  Spencer  what  you  wrote  me  about  Fiske  and  sent 
him  Fiske's  circular.  It  did  the  business  at  once.  He 
immediately  ordered  extra  title-pages  posted  into  all  his 
volumes — Synthetic  Philosophy — and  blew  himself  up  for 
being  such  a  fool  as  to  listen  to  the  Leweses  and  others 
when  he  proposed  it  at  first. f  He  cuffs  Huxley  hand- 

*  "  This  work  has  been  written  at  the  instigation  of  my  American 
friend,  Prof.  Youmans." — Spencer,  Study  of  Sociology,  Preface. 

f  For  some  time  it  had  been  felt  desirable  to  have  a  distinctive  name 
for  Mr.  Spencer's  system  of  philosophy.  Among  many  reasons  for  this 
there  was  the  fact  that  there  was  a  vague  notion  afloat  that  any  syrtem  of 
philosophy  built  up  from  scientific  data  by  scientific  methods  must  be 
some  form  of  "  positive  philosophy  "  ;  and  inasmuch  as  Comte  had  appro- 
priated that  title  and  made  it  notorious,  there  was  a  fine  opportunity  for 
bemuddling  things.  Writers  for  the  press  insisted  upon  calling  Spencer, 
Huxley,  and  scientific  philosophers  generally,  "  positivists."  Considering 
that  Spencer  has  always  repudiated  each  and  every  distinctive  doctrine 
held  by  positivists,  this  was  very  absurd  and  very  annoying.  There  were 
further  reasons  why  a  name  for  Spencer's  philosophy  was  deemed  desir- 
able. Accordingly,  in  1867  Mr.  Spencer  decided  to  adopt  the  name  Syn- 
thetic Philosophy,  and  put  it  upon  the  title-pages  of  his  volumes,  but  after 
discussing  the  matter  with  some  of  his  friends  he  concluded  not  to  do  so. 
See  above,  pp.  234,  236,  251,  252,  255. 

In  the  course  of  my  lectures  at  Harvard  University,  in  the  spring  of 


The  International  Scientific  Series.  291 

somely  in  the  Fortnightly,  which  I  send.*  I  advertised  for 
a  German  student  of  history  to  undertake  a  part  of  his 

1871,  I  used  the  name  "Cosmic  Philosophy"  to  designate  Mr.  Spencer's 
system,  and  this  name  grew  in  favour  with  me  as  I  used  it  in  various  con- 
nections. I  first  made  a  formal  and  public  use  of  it  in  a  circular  printed 
in  the  autumn  of  1871.  As  soon  as  Spencer  saw  this  circular  he  adopted 
the  epithet  "  Synthetic,"  as  Youmans  relates  above.  When  I  was  in  Lon- 
don in  1873,  and  on  the  point  of  publishing  my  Outlines  of  Cosmic  Phi- 
losophy, I  had  a  friendly  discussion  with  Spencer  as  to  the  propriety 
of  baptizing  his  system  of  philosophy  by  a  title  different  from  the  one 
which  he  had  himself  given  it.  Advice  was  sought  from  Lewes  and  Hux- 
ley. Lewes  simply  fell  back  upon  his  old  position,  that  all  scientific  phi- 
losophy ought  to  be  called  "  positive,"  and  so  he  condemned  both  our 
names.  Huxley,  on  the  other  hand,  suggested  that  since  the  name  "  Syn- 
thetic "  had  been  offered  to  the  public,  the  name  "  Cosmic  *'  had  better  be 
offered  also,  and  let  time  decide  between  them — let  the  fittest  survive. 
Accordingly  I  adhered  to  the  name  "  Cosmic,"  stating  at  the  same  time  in 
my  preface  that  Spencer  did  not  approve  the  name.  His  objection  to 
"  Cosmic  "  was  the  same  as  my  objection  to  "  Synthetic,"  viz.,  that  it  was 
not  a  distinctive  name.  It  seems  to  me  now  that  both  objections  were 
sound,  and  fatal !  I  do  not  believe  that  either  will  survive.  The  dis- 
tinctive feature  of  Spencer's  system  is  that  it  is  "  Evolution  Philosophy." 
That  would  be  a  somewhat  cumbrous  name,  but  I  dare  say  that  if  in  some 
way  or  other  the  word  "  evolution  "  could  from  the  start  have  been  wrought 
into  Mr.  Spencer's  title-pages,  it  might  have  prevented  a  vast  amount  of 
popular  misapprehension.  It  would  early  have  helped  to  associate  the 
doctrine  of  evolution  with  the  name  of  its  true  founder  more  closely  than 
with  Mr.  Darwin,  whose  discoveries  were  concerned  simply  with  one  de- 
partment of  the  subject.  "Evolutionism"  and  "Spencerism"  are  synony- 
mous terms  ;  "  evolutionism  "  and  "  Darwinism  "  are  not,  as  is  proved  by 
the  fact  that  a  man  may  be  an  enthusiastic  Darwinian  and  still  scout  at 
the  doctrine  of  evolution  as  a  metaphysical  chimera  ;  such  was  the  case 
with  the  late  Chauncey  Wright. 

As  for  displacing  the  ridiculous  epithet  "  positive,"  I  do  not  believe 
that  either  "  synthetic  "  or  "  cosmic  "  was  ever  worth  a  groat.  The  stupid 
old  public  (begging  its  pardon,  nothing  personal  intended  !)  would  prob- 

*  See  article  "  Specialized  Administration  "  in  Spencer's  Essays,  Vol. 
Ill,  a  reply  to  "  Administrative  Nihilism,"  in  Huxley's  Critiques  and 

Addresses. 


292  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

Descriptive  Sociology,  and  think  we  shall  get  a  suitable 
man. 

SAVILE  CLUB,  December  16,  1871. 

MY  DEAR  SISTER  :  I  have  fixed  upon  December  3oth  to 
sail,  and  shall  go  in  the  Russia,  the  quickest  and  safest  for 
the  winter  passage.  There  is  still  much  to  do  in  the  next 
fortnight,  and  I  shall  want  the  whole  of  it,  yet  the  body  of 
the  work  is  done.  It  will  go  on  though  I  leave.  Last 
Monday  night  I  met  Spencer  and  Tyndall  at  Huxley's  at 
dinner  to  consider  matters.  It  was  precious  different  from 
my  first  dinner  there  six  months  ago.  They  are  fairly  in 

ably  have  gone  on  calling  us  all  "  positivists  "  to  this  day,  had  not  Huxley, 
once  in  a  moment  of  happy  inspiration,  fired  off  the  term  "  agnostic."  It 
took  so  beautifully  that  people  have  by  this  time  almost  forgotten  that 
there  ever  was  any  such  thing  as  "  positivism  "  ;  and  as  a  missile  of  theo- 
logical vituperation  the  word  "agnostic"  is  so  innocent  of  all  definite  sig- 
nificance that  nobody  need  mind  being  pelted  with  it. 

Since  writing  this  footnote,  I   find  among  Mr.  Spencer's  letters  the, 
following,  which  explains  my  own  objection  to  the  name  "  Synthetic."     It 
was  a  question  of  a  title  for  a  brief  exposition  of  Spencerian  philosophy  by 
Dr.  Gazelles  : 

38  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  W.,^/^-//io,  1874. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  I  send  on  the  annexed  leaf  a  copy  of  the  title- 
page  as  I  think  it  should  run.  Synthetic  Philosophy  would  be  a  damper 
to  most,  even  when  it  was  intelligible — which  it  would  be  to  but  few. 
Evolution  Philosophy  will,  on  the  contrary,  be  attractive,  and  will  con- 
vey some  idea  of  the  book.  I  have  prefixed  the  word  "  Outline  "  to  give 
further  definiteness  to  the  conception.  Truly  yours, 

HERBERT  SPENCER. 

Outline  of  the  Evolution  Philosophy.  By  Dr.  M.  E.  Gazelles.  Trans- 
lated from  the  French  by  the  Rev.  O.  B.  Frothingham.  With  an  Appen- 
dix by  E.  L.  Youmans. 

In  using  the  name  "  Cosmic  "  I  was  actuated  by  the  feeling  that  it 
would  be  less  unintelligible  and  less  of  a  "  damper  "  than  the  other  name. 
In  a  certain  sense,  too,  "  Cosmic  "  is  a  distinctive  epithet  as  applied  to  a 
philosophy  which  excludes  miracle  and  exhibits  law  as  the  "  harmony  of 
the  world."  No  doubt,  however,  "  Evolution  Philosophy  "  was  the  title 
best  adapted  for  leading  the  "  public  "  into  wisdom's  narrow  path. 


The  International  Scientific  Series.  293 

harness  and  trot  quite  smoothly.  They  took  hold  of  work 
as  a  matter  of  course,  and  are  going  to  make  a  pretty  good 
committee.  It  seems  to  be  universally  agreed  that  we  have 
a  great  thing  in  prospect  and  well  under  way,  and  which 
can  hardly  fail  to  result  in  large  advantages  to  many  au- 
thors and  to  the  public  also.  I  am  glad  I  came  now,  and 
glad  I  stayed  it  out.  It  has  been  rough  and  tough,  and 
will  fitly  wind  up  with  a  winter  passage  home.  Oh,  how  I 
will  sleep  when  I  get  on  that  ship ! 

Before  sailing  for  home  Youmans  had  not  only 
arranged  for  simultaneous  publication  in  New  York, 
London,  Paris,  and  Leipsic,  but  also  opened  negotia- 
tions which  in  the  future  extended  his  plan  to  Milan 
and  St.  Petersburg.  The  International  Scientific 
Series,  launched  with  so  much  labour,  amply  justified 
its  projector's  anticipations.  In  it  the  master  hands  of 
science  have  written  the  latest  word  on  themes  whose 
special  study  has  won  them  their  distinction.  There 
are  many  topics  of  importance  for  which  no  single 
nation  provides  a  sufficiently  large  circle  of  readers 
for  remunerative  publication.  Several  such  topics 
have  been  treated  in  the^  series  with  reward  to  the 
authors  concerned.  And  not  the  least  service  of  the 
series  was  its  proot  that  liberal  private  enterprise 
could  find  its  account  in  outrunning  the  tardy  coun- 
cils of  a  great  nation  in  doing  justice  to  authorship. 
When  the  days  of  the  projector  of  the  series  were 
drawing  to  a  close  its  fifty-seventh  volume  had  ap- 
peared— Mr.  Heilprin's  Geographical  and  Geological 
Distribution  of  Animals.  The  first  volume  was  Tyn- 
dall's  Forms  of  Water,  which  drew  forth,  among  other 
encomiums,  one  from  Thomas  Carlyle.  The  most 
successful  volumes  have  been  Draper's  Conflict  be- 


294  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

tween  Religion  and  Science,  Josiah  Cooke's  New 
Chemistry,  and  Spencer's  Study  of  Sociology.  This 
last  book  was  written  at  Youmans's  suggestion,  to 
prepare  the  public  for  the  Descriptive  Sociology 
which  appeared  in  after  years.  The  Study  has  passed 
through  eleven  English  editions,  and  has  proved  nearly 
as  popular  as  its  author's  Education. 

It  was  unavoidable  that  in  a  programme  so  lengthy 
some  of  the  co-operators  should  drop  out  of  the  ranks. 
My  dear  friend  Clifford  died  before  he  had  more  than 
outlined  his  proposed  work,  The  Principles  of  Exact 
Science  explained  to  the  Unmathematical.  Prof.  Je- 
vons  contributed  Money  and  the  Mechanism  of  Ex- 
change, and  a  second  volume  was  expected  from  his 
pen  at  the  time  of  his  drowning.  Our  editor  had  to 
face  other  difficulties  in  the  execution  of  his  task  than 
those  due  to  mortality.  When  some  of  the  contribu- 
tions came  in  they  proved  too  bulky  or  too  technical 
for  inclusion  and  had  to  be  rejected.  There  was  not  a 
little  grumbling  in  America  at  first  at  the  fewness  of 
American  contributors,  but  this  died  out  as  the  list 
gradually  took  up  one  after  another  name  of  authority 
at  home. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

THE   POPULAR   SCIENCE   MONTHLY. 
1872.     Age,  51. 

ON  Youmans's  return  to  America  after  completing 
arrangements  for  the  International  Series,  it  seemed 
an  opportune  time  to  establish  the  magazine  so  long 
considered  which  should  be  a  popular  medium  of 
communication  between  men  of  original  thought  and 
research  and  the  general  reading  public.  This,  as  we 
have  seen,  had  been  for  many  years  one  of  his  most 
cherished  projects.  The  experiment  with  Appletons' 
Journal  had  failed,  through  no  fault  of  his ;  it  was  time 
to  try  again. 

Between  the  International  Series — especially  the 
book  on  The  Study  of  Sociology,  which  Mr.  Spencer 
was  now  writing  for  it — and  the  starting  of  the  Popu- 
lar Science  Monthly  there  was  a  curious  causal  con- 
nection, which  is  shown  in  the  following  extracts : 

37  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  LONDON,  W., January  8, 1872. 
MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  I  have,  as  I  proposed  before  you 
left,  arranged  with  Knowles  for  publication  of  the  Study 
of  Sociology  in  the  Contemporary  in  successive  installments. 
He  and  the  publisher,  Strahan,  express  themselves  as  re- 
joicing to  make  the  agreement.  No  difficulty  appears  to 
arise  respecting  the  simultaneous  publication  in  America, 
so  long  as  it  is  understood  that  the  publication  in  some 

(295) 


296  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

American  periodical  will  not  interfere  with  the  publication 
at  the  same  date  in  that  portion  of  the  edition  of  the  Con- 
temporary which  circulates  in  America.  I  have  stipulated 
for  such  interval  as  will  allow  of  your  having  the  sheets  in 
time  to  make  simultaneous  publication  practicable.  Pos- 
sibly you  have  by  this  time  taken  some  steps  toward 
making  arrangements  for  me.  I  hope  you  have  not  made 
any  proposals  for  its  publication  in  Appletons'  Journal.  To 
this  I  should  object.  After  so  long  a  descending  career  in 
respect  of  quality,  I  suspect  that  changing  its  character 
would  be  very  difficult,  if  possible;  and  until  such  restora- 
tion of  character  is  effected  I  should  not  like  contributions 
of  mine  to  appear  in  it. 

Should  you  start  the  proposed  magazine  with  the  under- 
standing that  you  are  to  have  full  power  in  the  management 
of  it,  the  case  will  be  quite  different.  It  strikes  me  that  if 
you  had  the  help  of  your  brother  and  sister,  and  if  they 
devoted  their  whole  time  to  it,  the  management  of  such  a 
magazine  might  not  be  too  much  for  you  along  with  other 

things. 

NEW  YORK,  January  26,  1872. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  I  have  yours  of  the  8th  inst.  As 
respects  the  sociological  articles,  I  have  not  for  a  moment 
thought  of  offering  them  to  Appletons'  Journal,  but  I  have 
not  made  proposals  elsewhere,  as,  if  we  do  start  a  monthly, 
I  am  very  anxious  to  avail  myself  of  them.  I  shall  accept 
nothing  except  full  control  of  such  a  periodical,  the  only 
question  being  whether  I  will  take  it  at  all.  My  brother  is 
very  anxious  that  I  should  do  so,  and  my  sister  inclines  to 
it.  I  mean  to  have  an  opportunity  very  soon  to  know  just 
what  the  publishers  are  prepared  to  do  and  will  report 
promptly ;  but  there  will  be  some  little  delay,  probably,  in 
starting — if  we  do  start — and  I  hope  that  you  will  not  begin 
over  there  until  we  are  ready  here.  There  would  be  no 
harm  if  you  had  two  or  three  of  the  articles  done  before 
the  first  is  printed.  Indeed,  this  will  be  most  desirable 


The  Popular  Science  Monthly.  297 

whoever  reprints  here.  You  are  to  remember  and  provide 
for  this  fact,  that  all  our  magazines  are  published  two 
weeks  before  date.  The  July  magazine  is  in  the  market 
the  middle  of  June.  .  .  .  There  is  a  furious  attack  upon 
you  in  the  Catholic  World,  under  the  title  The  Cosmic 
Philosophy.  The  New  Englander  is  also  out  with  an  on- 
slaught, so  there  seems  no  danger  that  the  Philosophy  will 

be  neglected. 

NEW  YORK,  January  2g,  1872. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  1  have  been  sorely  tried  about  the 
periodical.  The  Appletons  are  perfectly  willing  and  per- 
fectly indifferent.  I  have  so  much  to  do  that  I  do  not  like 
to  court  responsibility. 

To  get  your  articles  would  be  a  powerful  incentive  to 
immediate  action.  On  the  other  hand,  there  ought  to  be 
deliberate  systematic  preparations,  and  it  is  also  greatly 
advantageous  to  start  January  ist.  Other  work  besides 
must  be  done.  So  unless  the  wind  changes  suddenly  and 
soon,  we  shall  have  no  magazine  this  year. 

What  impels  me  to  write  to-day  is  that  I  have  ascer- 
tained the  time  conditions  of  the  issue  of  your  articles  on 
this  side.  To  get  a  favourable  insertion  (in  place  I  mean) 
each  article  must  be  here  six  weeks  before  the  date  of  its 
appearance.  For  May  it  must  be  here  by  the  middle  of 
March — must  be  sent  by  the  ist  of  March.  I  have,  of 
course,  made  no  arrangements  as  yet,  but  am  able  to  give 
you  the  conditions  on  which  depend  the  market  value  of 
your  articles,  and  indeed  the  only  conditions  on  which  they 
can  appear  in  any  American  periodical  at  all.  I  am  still 
anxious  about  the  phraseology  of  your  letter.  The  Con- 
temporary pays  you  for  the  English  constituency.  I  know 
they  cannot  afford  to  pay  for  the  lead  in  America,  or  what 
you  would  lose  by  leaving  your  articles  with  them.  You 
say  that  they  stipulate  that  you  shall  not  so  dispose  of  the 
article  as  to  interfere  with  them.  But  the  thing  paid  for 
here  is  priority. 


298  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

LONDON,  February  i6t  1872. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  The  difficulties  you  describe  re- 
specting the  arrangements  for  publication  in  an  American 
magazine  in  such  way  that  the  requirements  as  to  date 
may  be  duly  met,  both  for  such  magazine  and  the  Contem- 
porary, seem  to  me  almost  insurmountable.  Your  Ameri- 
can custom  of  issuing  a  fortnight  before  date  seems  to 
make  anything  like  simultaneous  publication  out  of  the 
question.  Either  your  American  magazine  must  be  a  fort- 
night behind  the  American  edition  of  the  Contemporary, 
or  a  fortnight  before  it,  and  such  an  arrangement  seems 
to  me  certain  to  be  negatived  by  the  one  or  the  other,  as 
the  case  may  be.  Indeed,  I  should  hardly  like  to  ask  Stra- 
han  to  agree  to  an  arrangement  under  which  the  articles 
should  appear  in  America  a  fortnight  before  the  Contem- 
porary arrived  there. 

Under  these  circumstances  I  see  no  other  way  of  meet- 
ing the  difficulty  than  that  of  publication  through  some 
other  medium  than  a  monthly  periodical.  I  called  two 
days  ago  on  Smalley,  to  ask  him  whether  it  was  worth 
while  to  make  the  proposal  to  the  Tribune.  He  thought 
it  was,  saying  that  from  time  to  time  they  issue  extra 
sheets,  and  that  it  might  not  improbably  be  arranged  that 
the  successive  chapters  should  appear  in  them.  Under 
such  an  arrangement  the  difficulty  as  to  date  would  almost 
disappear.  The  publication  in  the  Tribune  might  be  al- 
most simultaneous  with  the  American  issue  of  the  Con- 
temporary. 

I  am  just  about  to  commence  the  first  chapter  for  the 
Contemporary.  It  will  appear  on  the  ist  of  April.  This, 
of  course,  negatives  my  arrangement  with  an  American 
magazine.  If  you  can  arrange  with  the  Tribune,  well  and 
good.  If  not,  the  scheme  of  American  publication  must,  I 
suppose,  drop. 

Since  I  wrote  to  you,  one  of  the  chief  Berlin  publishers 


The  Popular  Science  Monthly.  299 

(Duncker)  has  written  to  propose  a  translation  of  the  Psy- 
chology. Probably  it  will  be  arranged  that  some  other 
translator  will  execute  this  while  Dr.  Vetter  is  executing 
First  Principles  and  the  Biology. 

"Under  the  circumstances  you  name,  I  think  you  are  quite 
right  in  not  commencing  at  present  the  contemplated  maga- 
zine. It  will  be  better  to  wait  until  all  the  circumstances 
are  favourable  and  until  you  have  had  leisure  for  laying 
out  your  plans  completely,  especially  as  meanwhile  you 
have  quite  enough  to  do  in  preparing  for  your  great  liter- 
ary scheme. 

You  do  not  in  either  letter  give  me  any  account  of  your- 
self. How  is  it  you  have  not  yet  got  an  amanuensis,  as  I 
urged  you  to  do  ?  You  will  inevitably  break  down  if  you 
don't  economize  your  energies. 

Ever  yours,  HERBERT  SPENCER. 

NEW  YORK,  March  8,  1872. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  Your  letter  regarding  the  articles 
came  the  other  day  and  has  much  perplexed  me.  I  had 
arranged  for  their  publication  in  the  Galaxy,  which  has  now 
a  large  circulation  and  is  a  first-rate  medium  for  such  a 
purpose.  Briefly,  neither  the  Atlantic  nor  Harper's  were 
available  for  the  purpose.  The  Galaxy  has  forty  thousand 
circulation,  and  for  the  past  year  has  been  dipping  a  good 
deal  into  serious  discussions.  I  regret  having  said  any- 
thing about  simultaneous  publication,  as  I.  might  have 
known  that  the  Contemporary  would  not  be  issued  here  be- 
fore it  was  in  England.  Our  periodicals  have  to  be  printed 
early  to  transport  them  to  distant  places,  but  they  are  not 
published  until  the  2oth,  and  therefore  cannot  reach  Eng- 
land before  the  first  of  the  ensuing  month.  Besides,  it  is  a 
common  and  regular  thing  to  publish  articles  here  in  this 
manner — although,  of  course,  from  English  magazines  that 
are  not  reproduced  here. 

If  you  make  no  regular  arrangement  the  articles  will  be 


3OO  Edward-  Livingston  Youmans. 

at  once  plundered,  and  when  that  thing  begins  there  is  no 
knowing  where  it  will  end.  I  have  from  the  beginning 
guarded  against  this  result  with  all  care,  furnishing  every- 
thing through  Appletons  early.  But  as  your  name  becomes 
valuable  the  danger  increases,  necessitating  more  vigilance. 
Another  element  of  apprehension  has  come  into  the  case— 
Appleton's  course  favouring  copyright  has  made  him  many 
and  ugly  enemies  lately.  As  respects  the  Tribune,  I  have 
not  yet  been  able  to  see  Greeley. 

It  will  not  be  so  good  as  the  Galaxy  would  be,  for  the 
newspaper  dies  in  twelve  hours,  and,  besides,  it  is  presi- 
dential campaign  year,  and  the  papers  are  already  going 
mad  with  politics. 

NEW  YORK,  March  14,  1872. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER:  I  saw  Greeley  last  night  with  refer- 
ence to  publishing  your  articles.  He  is  as  ignorant  as  a 
Bushman  and  as  prejudiced  as  a  papist,  so  that  conver- 
sation on  the  subject  is  hardly  possible.  "As  for  sociol- 
ogy," said  he,  "  Fourier  proclaimed  more,  thirty  years  ago, 
than  this  generation  can  appreciate."  When  your  name 
was  mentioned  he  broke  out  that  he  was  "  dead  and  for- 
ever opposed  to  that  whole  laissez-faire  school,  and  if  the 
articles  contained  any  of  that,  he  didn't  want  them."  I 
urged  him  as  much  as  I  could,  and  he  ended  by  saying, 
"When  your  articles  come,  let  us  see  them." 

But  if  the  Tribune  prints  the  papers,  what  then  ?  Not 
being  in  an  accessible  monthly,  they  must  be  reproduced 
in  pamphlets  by  somebody.  I  see  no  other  way  but  that 
you  get  Mr.  King  to  stereotype  the  chapters  in  the  form  of 
the  series  and  send  us  the  plates.  We  can  strike  off  a 
small  edition  with  a  large  margin,  and  supply  it  to  those 
who  wish,  and  thus  forestall  piracy. 

I  shall  be  uneasy  until  I  know  what  you  are  going  to 
do  about  those  articles — whether  we  are  to  have  them  early 
or  not. 


The  Popular  Science  Mont  lily.  301 

NEW  YORK,  April  j,  1872. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  A  thousand  thanks  for  your  favour 
of  March  i3th,  with  article  on  Study  of  Sociology  inclosed. 
I  was  beginning  to  be  worried  about  it,  and  was  on  the 
point  of  telegraphing  you  to  telegraph  me  as  to  what  you 
would  do.  You  did  wisely  in  sending  it,  and  I  decided 
upon  our  course  two  minutes  after  getting  it. 

I  determined  to  have  a  monthly  at  once,  and  in  time  to 
open  with  this  article.  It  was  vital  that  these  articles  be 
not  exposed  to  the  temptation  to  reprint  them  in  pam- 
phlets. Two  houses  have  gone  into  the  business;  they 
are  printing  series  of  scientific  tracts  at  a  shilling,  and  have 
both  announced  your  volume.  They  will  seize  upon  the 
first  thing  offered.  We  have  secured  the  "  Specialized  Ad- 
ministration "  only  by  advertising  it  almost  daily  ourselves 
as  a  pamphlet,  to  get  time  to  issue  it  as  a  book.  Remem- 
ber this :  you  have  become  popular  here,  and  are  therefore 
in  more  peril  than  before.  The  courtesies  of  the  trade 
yielding  to  priority  and  recognizing  the  right  of  a  publisher 
to  the  works  of  his  author  have  a  certain  value  with  us, 
but  if  once  broken  through  the  spell  dissolves — that  author 
is  not  protected.  So-and-So  has  gone  in  upon  his  works, 
and  they  are  now  open.  This  has  been  done  over  and  over 
again,  and  it  will  not  do  to  leave  your  things  lying  around. 
When  I  could  not  get  the  use  of  another  periodical,  and  we 
had  to  fall  back  upon  the  newspapers,  it  became  indispen- 
sable to  publish  as  a  pamphlet.  I  have  accepted  the  situa- 
tion and  have  done  so — with  additions. 

I  received  your  article  less  than  a  week  ago.  We  have 
started  a  monthly  of  128  pages.  The  first  part  of  it  is  now 
printing;  the  last  pages  will  be  closed  up  to-morrow,  and 
we  will  have  it  out  in  five  days  more.  Of  course,  we  had 
to  go  in  on  selected  articles ;  but  with  yours  for  original 
and  a  translation  by  my  sister  from  the  French,  a  short 
article  by  myself,  and  fragments  by  my  brother,  we  shall 


3O2  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

make  a  very  fair  show,  and  as  we  shall  print  in  better  style 
than  any  other  magazine,  the  thing  will  do.  We  shall  have 
a  large  sale  on  the  first  two  numbers  at  any  rate.  Nothing 
happens  as  expected,  but  often  the  unexpected  is  best.  I 
am  utterly  glad  that  things  have  taken  the  course  they 
have.  I  have  long  wanted  a  medium  of  speech  that  I  can 
control,  and  now  I  shall  have  it.  It  will  consolidate  plans 
and  facilitate  work. 

We  shall  depend  on  your  second  article  to  open  also 
the  second  number ;  I  hope  it  will  be  sent  as  early  as  the 
first.  I  have  not  got  my  amanuensis  yet,  but  soon  shall. 

April  23,  18^2. 

Considering  that  our  gestation  was  so  short,  the  under- 
taking has  proved  very  satisfactory.  The  stroke  is  unusu- 
ally applauded,  and  the  incoming  support  is  more  than  we 
expected.  That  which  started  us  and  which  I  was  most 
anxious  about — the  chance  of  your  articles — is  well  secured. 
The  first  one  is  attracting  a  good  deal  of  attention,  and  is 
being  steadily  called  for.  If  we  get  your  second  in  time 
we  shall  be  made. 

June  2,  1872. 

The  unexpected  success  of  the  Monthly  has  increased 
my  anxiety  about  it,  and  kept  me  a  good  deal  on  a  stretch. 
We  first  printed  5,000  each  of  Nos.  i  and  2,  have  printed 
2,000  of  each  since,  and  they  are  now  both  out  of  print,  and 
have  been  so  half  the  time  for  the  last  several  weeks.  We 
shall  print  7,000  of  No.  3,  and  it  would  not  surprise  me  if 
the  first  three  numbers  went  up  to  10,000.  The  publishers 
say  it  is  a  certain  thing,  and  are  greatly  pleased,  but  the 
American  rage  for  novelty  cannot  fail  to  be  a  large  factor, 
and  I  indulge  in  no  large  hopes.  Still,  I  shall  do  my  best 
to  sustain  it.  I  like  the  work  much,  and  if  it  continues  to 
succeed  I  shall  have  no  further  solicitude  about  remunera- 
tive occupation. 


The  Popular  Science  Monthly.  303 

August  21 1  1872. 

Chapter  V  has  just  come,  and  it  is  splendid.  This 
series  is  going  to  do  a  grand  work ;  it  hits  us  every  time 
exactly  where  we  live.  The  papers  as  they  appear  will  be 
extensively  read,  and,  although  we  are  in  the  midst  of  a 
presidential  convulsion,  they  are  already  attracting  great 
attention.  The  volume  cannot  fail  to  do  sharp  execution. 
Have  you  any  definite  idea  of  its  extent  ?  If  so,  I  shall  be 
glad  to  know.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  inquiry  about  the 
Psychology. 

As  soon  as  the  sociological  series  breaks  I  mean  to  in- 
troduce some  parts  of  the  Psychology  into  the  Monthly, 
the  sales  of  which,  I  am  happy  to  say,  steadily  continue. 
I  was  prepared  for  a  marked  falling  off  during  the  furious 
heat  and  business  stagnation  of  midsummer,  but  the  cir- 
culation is  well  sustained,  and  there  is  a  constant  call  for 
back  numbers. 

I  posted  to  you  a  World  two  days  ago,  with  the  alleged 
report  of  a  European  tourist  on  European  philosophers. 
You  will  find  in  it  some  novel  and  remarkable  statements 
concerning  yourself  and  your  friends.  Our  newspaper 
press  is  simply  damnable.  "  Interviewing  "  has  come  to  be 
a  regular  feature  of  it,  and  under  its  guise  are  put  forth 
the  most  preposterous  inventions,  while  the  extravagant 
and  the  absurd  are  sure  to  be  caught  up  and  universally 
circulated.  But  all  this  cannot  be  helped,  but  must  be 
taken  philosophically.  Fiske's  lecture  on  the  Composition 
of  Mind  has  been  published  in  Hammond's  Psychological' 
Journal,  published  by  the  Appletons.  John  has  gone  in 
pretty  strong  on  Psychology.  I  will  send  it  to  you.  My 
sister  is  very  well,  and  is  working  steadily  at  her  second 
book  of  Botany.  The  religious  press  is  getting  uneasy 
about  the  Monthly,  and  beginning  to  threaten  us.  Ever 
yours,  E.  L.  YOUMANS. 


304  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

37  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  W.,  October  12,  1872. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  I  have  just  finished  the  second 
volume  of  the  Psychology,  and  expect  to  have  it  issued  in 
a  bound  form  in  less  than  a  fortnight. 

I  find  on  looking  back  that  it  is  just  twelve  years  since 
I  commenced.  Having  now  got  half  through,  it  might  be 
inferred  that  it  will  take  another  twelve  years  to  finish.  I 
see  reason  for  hoping,  however,  that  ten  will  suffice.* 
Considerably  more  than  two  years,  I  believe,  have  gone  in 
interruptions — partly  due  to  occasional  relapses  of  health, 
partly  to  the  second  edition  of  First  Principles,  partly  to 
various  incidental  essays  and  articles,  and  partly  to  the 
arrangement  and  superintendence  of  the  Descriptive  So- 
ciology, which  during  the  earlier  stages  occupied  much 
time.  Indeed,  now  that  I  put  them  down,  these  interrup- 
tions account,  I  think,  for  more  than  two  years'  loss  of 
time.  As  I  am  much  better  now  than  I  was  when  I  com- 
menced, and  as  I  do  not  see  the  likelihood  of  much  inci- 
dental writing  hereafter,  I  am  inclined  to  hope  that  after 
completing  the  Study,  etc.,  ten  years  will  suffice  to  carry 
me  through. 

Your  last  number  has  reached  me,  as  also  the  copy  of 
the  World,  in  which  I  find  myself  "  interviewed  "  in  a  some- 
what romancing  style ;  for,  while  I  recognize  some  things 
in  it  as  having  been  said  to  me,  there  is  much  in  it  which  I 
certainly  did  not  say — notably  the  passages  from  First 
Principles  which  I  am  represented  as  repeating. 

May  I  suggest  that  you  are  hardly  giving  the  method 
of  dictation  a  fair  trial.  Neither  the  hand  of  your  late 
amanuensis  nor  the  hand  of  the  one  by  whom  you  wrote 
last  implies  the  ability  to  write  with  tolerable  rapidity.  If 
you  employ  a  slow  writer,  you  will  not  only  lose  valuable 

*  More  than  twenty,  alas !  have  since  elapsed,  and  because  of  unfore- 
seen ill  health  the  series  is  not  yet  quite  finished.  Happily,  since  1890  it 
has  been  advancing  more  rapidly,  and  the  end  seems  almost  in  sight. 


The  Popular  Science  Monthly.  305 

time,  but  may  get  impatient  with  the  system  itself,  and 
condemn  it  as  unsatisfactory.  By  all  means  get  a  quick 
writer.  Ever  yours,  HERBERT  SPENCER. 

The  laborious  work  connected  with  the  magazine 
did  not  prevent  Youmans  from  once  more  trying  to 
give  a  few  lectures ;  but  this  time  he  broke  down  at 
the  very  start,  and  was  soon  back  in  his  editorial  office 

again. 

ASHLAND,  November  20, 1872. 

DEAR  SISTER  :  Things  are  precious  bad.  I  ought  not 
to  have  undertaken  this  job.  I  am  sick  through  and 
through  with  the  ugliest  cold  I  -ever  had — headache,  sore 
throat,  soreness  of  chest,  and  a  universal  aching  to  the 
marrow  of  the  bones.  I  could  not  get  a  fire  in  a  room  at 
Akron,  and  was  freezing  all  day.  I  got  into  a  sweat  dur- 
ing the  lecture,  and  that  clinched  the  thing.  Had  to  leave 
at  5.30  in  the  morning.  No  vehicles  to  train,  so  I  got  a 
bed  in  a  nigger  hole  near  the  station  and  shivered  in  it  all 
night.  I  had  a  good  deal  of  fever,  and  did  not  get  a  wink 
of  sleep.  It  was  an  awful  night,  but  I  got  the  cars  and 
slept  through  a  fifty-mile  ride — or  dozed  through  it.  I  did 
not  think  I  should  be  able  to  lecture  at  all,  but  I  went  to 
bed  and  rested  as  well  as  I  could,  and  of  course  I  had  to 
try  it.  I  contrived  to  talk  an  hour,  and  could  not  stand 
up  any  longer.  I  had  a  good  deal  of  broken  and  uncom- 
fortable sleep  last  night,  but  am  awful  stiff  and  sore  this 
morning ;  and  more — I  have  to  ride  back  into  the  country 
several  miles  in  a  cold  snowstorm  to  Lodi.  I  shall  under- 
take it.  So  things  go,  and  I  will  telegraph  you.  I  have 
long  known  that  I  am  very  shaky,  but  I  did  not  realize 
how  little  remnant  of  vitality  and  resistance  there  is  left. 

Having    thus    seen    how    The    Popular    Science 
Monthly  came  into  existence  at  the  time  when  it  was 
becoming  more  than  ever  apparent  that  our  friend's 
14 


306  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

career  as  a  lecturer  was  ended,  we  may  quote  his  own 
words  in  the  Editor's  Table  of  the  opening  number,  in 
which  he  denned  its  scope  and  aim : 

The  Popular  Science  Monthly  has  been  started  to  help 
on  the  work- of  sound  public  education,  by  supplying  in- 
structive articles  on  the  leading  subjects  of  scientific  in- 
quiry. It  will  contain  papers,  original  and  selected,  on  a 
wide  range  of  subjects,  from  the  ablest  scientific  men  of 
different  countries,  explaining  their  views  to  non-scientific 
people.  A  magazine  is  needed  here  which  shall  be  devoted 
to  this  purpose,  for,  although  much  is  done  by  the  general 
press  in  scattering  light  articles  and  shreds  of  information, 
yet  many  scientific  discussions  of  merit  and  moment  are 
passed  by.  It  is  therefore  thought  best  to  bring  this  class 
of  contributions  together  for  the  benefit  of  all  who  are  in- 
terested in  the  advance  of  ideas  and  the  diffusion  of  valu- 
able knowledge. 

The  increasing  interest  in  science,  in  its  facts  and  prin- 
ciples, its  practical  applications,  and  its  bearings  upon  opin- 
ion, is  undeniable ;  and,  with  this  augmenting  interest," 
there  is  growing  up  a  new  and  enlarged  meaning  of  the 
term  which  it  is  important  for  us  to  notice.  By  science  is 
now  meant  the  most  accurate  knowledge  that  can  be  ob- 
tained of  the  order  of  the  universe  by  which  man  is  sur- 
rounded, and  of  which  he  is  a  part.  This  order  was  at  first 
perceived  in  simple  physical  things,  and  the  tracing  of  it 
out  in  these  gave  origin  to  the  physical  sciences.  In  its 
earlier  development,  therefore,  science  pertained  to  certain 
branches  of  knowledge,  and  to  many  the  term  science  still 
implies  physical  science. 

But  this  is  an  erroneous  conception  of  its  real  scope. 
The  growth  of  science  involves  a  widening  as  well  as  a  pro- 
gression. The  ascertainable  order  of  things  proves  to  be 
much  more  extensive  than  was  at  first  suspected;  and  the 
inquiry  into  it  has  led  to  sphere  after  sphere  of  new  investi- 


The  Popular  Science  Monthly.  307 

gation,  until  science  is  now  regarded  as  not  applying  to 
this  or  that  class  of  objects,  but  to  the  whole  of  Nature — 
as  being,  in  fact,  a  method  of  the  mind,  a  quality  or  char- 
acter of  knowledge  upon  all  subjects  of  which  we  can  think 
or  know. 

What  some  call  the  progress  of  science,  and  others  call 
its  encroachments,  is  undoubtedly  the  great  fact  of  modern 
thought,  and  it  implies  a  more  critical  method  of  inquiry 
applied  to  subjects  not  before  dealt  with  in  so  strict  a 
manner.  The  effect  has  been,  that  many  subjects  once 
widely  separated  from  the  recognized  sciences  have  been 
brought  nearer  to  them,  and  have  passed  more  or  less  com- 
pletely under  the  influence  of  the  scientific  method  of  in- 
vestigation. Whatever  subjects  involve  accessible  and  ob- 
servable phenomena,  one  causing  another,  or  in  anyway 
related  to  another,  belong  properly  to  science  for  investiga- 
tion. Intellect,  feeling,  human  action,  language,  education, 
history,  morals,  religion,  law,  commerce,  and  all  social  re- 
lations and  activities,  answer  to  this  condition ;  each  has 
its  basis  of  fact,  which  is  the  legitimate  subject-matter  of 
scientific  inquiry.  Those,  therefore,  who  consider  that  ob- 
servatory watching,  laboratory  work,  or  the  dredging  of  the 
sea  for  specimens  to  be  classified,  is  all  there  is  to  science, 
make  a  serious  mistake.  Science  truly  means  continuous 
intelligent  observation  of  the  characters  of  men  as  well  as 
of  the  characters  of  insects.  It  means  the  analysis  of  mind 
as  well  as  that  of  chemical  substances.  It  means  the 
scrutiny  of  evidence  in  regard  to  political  theories  as  in- 
exorable as  that  applied  to  theories  of  comets.  It  means 
the  tracing  of  cause  and  effect  in  the  sequences  of  human 
conduct  as  well  as  in  the  sequences  of  atmospheric  change. 
It  means  strict  inductive  inquiry  as  to  how  society  has 
come  to  be  what  it  is,  as  well  as  how  the  rocky  systems 
have  come  to  be  what  they  are.  In  short,  science  is  not 
the  mystery  of  a  class,  but  the  common  interest  of  rational 


308  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

beings,  in  whom  thinking  determines  action,  and  whose 
highest  concern  it  is  that  thought  shall  be  brought  into  the 
exactest  harmony  with  things — and  this  is  the  supreme 
purpose  of  education. 

If,  in  this  statement  of  the  scope  and  work  of  science, 
we  have  not  laid  stress  upon  those  great  achievements  by 
which  it  has  given  man  power  over  the  material  world,  it 
is  not  because  we  undervalue  them.  They  are  noble  re- 
sults, but  they  are  abundantly  eulogized,  and  their  very 
splendour  has  operated  to  dim  the  view  of  other  conquests 
less  conspicuous  but  even  more  important.  Telegraphs, 
steam  engines,  and  the  thousand  devices  to  which  science 
has  led,  are  great  things  ;  but  what,  after  all,  is  their  value 
compared  with  the  emancipation  of  the  human  spirit  from 
the  thralldom  of  ignorance,  which  the  world  owes  to  this 
agency  ?  Rightly  to  appreciate  what  science  has  accom- 
plished for  humanity,  we  must  remember  not  only  that  it 
has  raised  men  to  the  understanding  and  enjoyment  of  the 
beautiful  order  of  Nature,  but  that  it  has  put  an  end  to  the 
baneful  superstitions  by  which  for  ages  men's  lives  were 
darkened,  to  the  sufferings  of  witchcraft,  and  the  terrors  of 
the  untaught  imagination  which  filled  the  world  with  malig- 
nant agencies. 

It  is  this  immense  extension  of  the  conception  of  sci- 
ence, in  which  all  the  higher  subjects  of  human  interest  are 
now  included,  that  .gives  it  an  ever-increasing  claim  on  the 
attention  of  the  public.  Besides  its  indispensable  use  in 
all  avocations,  and  its  constant  application  in  the  sphere  of 
daily  life,  it  is  also  profoundly  affecting  the  whole  circle  of 
questions,  speculative  and  practical,  which  have  agitated 
the  minds  of  men  for  generations.  Whoever  cares  to  know 
whither  inquiry  is  tending,  or  how  opinion  is  changing, 
what  old  ideas  are  perishing,  and  what  new  ones  are  rising 
into  acceptance — briefly,  whoever  desires  to  be  intelligent 
as  to  contemporary  movements  in  the  world  of  thought — 


The  Popular  Science  Monthly.  309 

must  give  attention  to  the  course  of  scientific  inquiry.  Be- 
lieving that  there  are  many  such  in  this  country,  and  that 
they  are  certain  to  become  more  numerous  in  future,  The 
Popular  Science  Monthly  has  been  commenced  with  the  in- 
tention of  meeting  their  wants  more  perfectly  than  any 
other  periodical  they  can  get. 

The  work  of  creating  science  has  been  organized  for  cen- 
turies. Royal  societies  and  scientific  academies  are  hun- 
dreds of  years  old.  Men  of  science  have  their  journals  in 
all  departments,  in  which  they  report  to  each  the  results  of 
original  work,  describe  their  processes,  engage  in  mutual 
criticism,  and  cultivate  a  special  literature  in  the  interests 
of  scientific  advancement. 

The  work  of  diffusing  science  is,  however,  as  yet  but 
very  imperfectly  organized,  although  it  is  clearly  the  next 
great  task  of  civilization.  The  signs,  however,  are  promis- 
ing. Schools  of  science  are  springing  up  in  all  enlightened 
countries,  and  old  educational  establishments  are  yielding 
to  the  reformatory  spirit,  modifying  and  modernizing  their 
systems  of  study.  There  is,  besides,  a  growing  sympathy 
on  the  part  of  men  of  science  of  the  highest  character  with 
the  work  of  popular  teaching,  and  an  increasing  readiness 
to  co-operate  in  undertakings  that  shall  promote  it.  There 
is,  in  fact,  growing  up  a  valuable  literature  of  popular  sci- 
ence— not  the  trash  that  caters  to  public  ignorance,  wonder, 
and  prejudice,  but  able  and  instructive  essays  and  lectures 
from  men  who  are  authorities  upon  the  subjects  which  they 
treat.  But  the  task  of  systematically  disseminating  these 
valuable  productions  is  as  yet  but  imperfectly  executed, 
and  we  propose  to  contribute  what  we  can  to  it  in  the  pres- 
ent publication. 

The  Popular  Science  Monthly  will  make  its  appeal  not 
to  the  illiterate,  but  to  the  generally  educated  classes.  The 
universities,  colleges,  academies,  and  high  schools  of  this 
country  are  numbered  by  hundreds,  and  their  graduates  by 


3io  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

hundreds  of  thousands.  Their  culture  is  generally  literary, 
with  but  a  small  portion  of  elementary  science  ;  but  they 
are  active-minded,  and  competent  to  follow  connected 
thought  in  untechnical  English,  even  if  it  be  sometimes  a 
little  close.  Our  pages  will  be  adapted  to  the  wants  of 
these,  and  will  enable  them  to  carry  on  the  work  of  self- 
instruction  in  science. 

Thenceforward  the  editorial  duties  of  the  Monthly 
absorbed  the  chief  energies  of  Mr.  Youmans,  and  its 
twenty-eight  volumes  issued  under  his  care  form  the 
principal  record  of  his  remaining  years.  While  it  was 
his  main  intent  to  give  in  popular  form  an  account  of 
the  progress  of  the  several  departments  of  science,  he 
never  lost  sight  of  the  aim  to  show  wherein  the  scien- 
tific method  was  applicable  to  the  larger  questions  of 
life — of  education,  social  relations,  morals,  government, 
and  religion.  In  enlisting  contributors  to  his  pages  he 
did  not  find  it  easy  to  get  them  to  steer  between  over- 
simplification on  one  hand  and  an  undue  technicality 
of  expression  on  the  other.  The  following  letter  to 
one  of  his  contributors  is  eminently  characteristic : 

• 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  Your  article  is  excellent,  and  will  be  read 
by  many  with  appreciation ;  but  when  I  looked  over  the 
proof  it  occurred  to  me  that  it  had  some  faults  of  presenta- 
tion, perhaps  due  to  your  lack  of  practice  in  putting  abstract 
things  before  common  readers.  Our  scientific  readers,  of 
course,  will  have  no  trouble  in  understanding  you  and 
will  enjoy  your  argument,  but  nine  tenths  of  the  patrons 
of  the  Monthly  will  get  but  a  partial  comprehension  of  it. 
Of  course  so  abstract  a  topic  as  the  Mathematics  of  Evo- 
lution may  be  expected  to  require  some  intellectual  force 
to  grasp  it,  and  I  am  well  content  with  your  main  exposition. 
Still  I  think  some  serious  and  systematic  attention  on  your 


The  Popular  Science  Monthly.  3 1 1 

part  to  the  artifice  of  clear  and  familiar  statement,  which 
will  give  you  access  to  ordinary  minds,  is  very  important. 
I  do  not  mean  for  a  moment  that  your  writing  is  obscure, 
but  only  that  your  composition  would  be  improved  if  you 
had  in  your  mind's  eye  a  person  of  common  intelligence 
and  quite  unacquainted  with  the  subject  you  are  seeking 
to  explain.  You  would  then  stop  and  think  by  what  han- 
dling or  illustration  the  view  so  clear  to  you  could  be 
brought  into  his  apprehension.  I  am  speaking  from  the 
Popular  Science  standpoint  about  a  deficiency  which  marks 
many  of  our  scientific  writers.  Generally  the  deeper  and 
more  thorough  their  science,  the  poorer  is  their  power  of 
exposition.  Excuse  me  for  throwing  out  these  suggestions, 
but  with  your  unusual  ability  of  statement  and  command 
of  appropriate  language,  if  you  would  study  the  art  of 
getting  at  the  mind  of  the  multitude,  as  a  dramatist  has  to 
study  it  in  elaborating  his  points  with  reference  to  their 
effect  upon  theatre  goers,  you  could  do  very  important  and 
increasingly  needed  work  in  the  field  of  popular  and  scien- 
tific education. 

Have  you  any  leisure  to  write,  and  do  you  care  to  ac- 
complish anything  in  that  direction  ?  If  yes,  and  you  have 
the  necessary  works  at  hand,  I  should  like  you  to  try  to 
make  a  thoroughly  popular  and  simplified  statement  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  "  dissipation  of  energy."  I  want  a  report 
in  the  Monthly  of  the  state  of  that  question,  explaining 
what  it  is,  what  we  know,  and  what  we  don't  know  about 
it.  What  say  you  ?  Ever  and  truly  yours, 

E.  L.  YOUMANS. 

He  had  very  often  to  perform  the  common  edi- 
torial function  of  returning  unsuitable  manuscripts, 
but  always  with  most  kindly  consideration.  Among 
authors  who  are  to-day  prominent  might  be  named 
several  whose  first  efforts  submitted  to  Youmans  were 


312  Edward  Livingston   Yomnans. 

found  unacceptable,  but  who  were  plainly  and  kindly 
told  wherein  lay  their  deficiencies.  Not  seldom  an  ar- 
ticle would  be  offered  him  unsuitable  for  the  Monthly, 
but  such  as  some  other  editor  might  be  glad  to  pub- 
lish. In  that  case  the  indication  would  be  given,  usu- 
ally accompanied  by  an  introductory  card.  It  was  in 
his  treatment  of  callers  that  Youmans's  good  nature 
was  most  severely  tested.  At  all  hours  to  his  office 
there  would  come  inventors  with  models  to  be  "  no- 
ticed," writers  with  bulky  bundles  of  book  manuscript 
for  examination,  and  readers  to  argue  down  some  state- 
ment published  in  the  Monthly.  He  could  instinc- 
tively discriminate  between  the  callers  who  had  a  right 
to  his  time  and  those  who  had  not.  A  crank  or  bore 
would  hear  something  like  this :  "  My  good  sir,  your 
manuscript  is  very  probably  all  that  you  claim,  and 
I  should  be  glad  to  have  the  leisure  to  examine  it  in 
detail ;  but  you  see  how  it  is.  I  have  ever  so  much 
work  that  I  must  finish  to-day,  and  so  I  am  obliged 
to  forego  the  pleasure." 

Youmans's  extreme  kindliness  is  well  illustrated 
by  the  effect  produced  upon  the  author  of  a  rejected 
manuscript,  who  wrote  him  the  following  letter : 

DR.  E.  L.  YOUMANS. 

DEAR  SIR  :  Your  reasons  for  not  putting  my  lecture  in 
The  Popular  Science  Monthly  are  good  and  sufficient,  and 
perfectly  satisfactory  to  me.  You  must  both  have  and 
deserve  troops  of  friends,  if  the  very  kind  notice  you  took 
of  my  paper  marks  your  habitual  manner  with  new  contribu- 
tors, and  I  can  only  thank  you,  and  say  you  were  quite 
right  in  rejecting  it. 

Can  you  be  as  correct  in  some  of  your  remarks  ?  Is 
Herbert  Spencer  anything  but  a  "  religious  destructive  "  ? 
Does  that  philosopher  exist  in  any  other  relation  to  religion 


The  Popular  Science  Monthly.  313 

than  that  of  destroyer  ?  What  is  religion  ?  Manifestly  a 
collection  of  beliefs  and  emotions  founded  upon  erroneous 
views  of  the  construction  and  methods  of  operation  of  this 
and  other  worlds.  Spencer  teaches  a  true  cosmos.  He 
must  therefore  destroy  religion  wherever  he  impinges  upon 
it.  How  could  any  conclusion  be  other  than  a  "bald  nega- 
tion" ?  When  it  is  shown  that  religion  vanishes  in  the 
presence  of  science,  what  can  you  do  but  write  finis  then 
and  there  ?  The  affair  is  closed.  The  job  is  done.  To  a 
mind  comprehending  the  facts  and  theories  of  science  and 
(I  will  add)  understanding  the  writings  of  Spencer,  "  re- 
ligion "  can  no  more  be  entertained  than  a  hobgoblin.  It 
becomes  a  zero,  an  excommunicated  x,  a  nothing  floating 
in  vacua. 

From  this  mess  of  crudity  one  might  readily  infer 
that  Youmans  would  have  had  no  use  for  the  writer's 
article.  If  he  had  deemed  it  necessary  to  answer  this 
letter,  he  would  probably  have  gently  conveyed  some 
intimation  of  the  fact  that  the  writer  was  very  far 
from  "  understanding  the  writings  of  Spencer." 

After  the  new  magazine  had  been  running  about  a 
year  and  a  half  Youmans  wrote  to  Spencer: 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Monthly  is  doing  an 
important  work  in  this  country.  We  continue  to  print 
12,000,  although  the  monthly  demand  fluctuates  around 
11,000,  and  seems  to  be  stationary  for  the  last  few  months. 
But  the  bound  volumes  sell  steadily  though  moderately, 
and  new  subscribers  frequently  order  from  the  beginning. 
We  have,  however,  worked  up  a  very  deep  feeling  of  hos- 
tility, and  hear  constantly  of  people  who  "  won't  have  it  in 
the  house."  I  call  your  attention  to  a  promised  series  of 
articles,  of  which  the  first  will  be  in  the  October  number  on 
The  Primary  Concepts  of  Modern  Physical  Science,  by  a 


3H  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

Western  lawyer.*  I  send  you  two  Scnbners  with  marked 
articles  that  will  interest  you  to  glance  over,  as  indicating 
the  depth  of  the  stir  among  us.  Dr.  Holland  has  not  got 
over  the  drubbing  I  gave  him  on  evolution,  and  he  has  got 
up  this  panic  with  a  view  "  to  do  the  business  "  for  us,  and 
it  is  unquestionably  acting  against  us.  But  it  is  also  acting 
powerfully  against  him,  for  the  religious  world  is  disgusted 
at  his  disclosure  of  the  depth  and  extent  of  skepticism,  and 
is  pitching  into  him.  As  an  example,  my  father  and  mother 
refuse  to  hear  the  articles  read,  alleging  that  "it  is  the 
work  of  some  infidel." 

.  .  .  Other  magazines  publish  wickeder  articles  than  we 
do,  and  nobody  objects,  but  we  are  under  suspicion  because 
we  sail  under  the  flag  of  science. 

Early  in  1874  we  find  him  writing: 

The  Popular  Science  Monthly  only  holds  its  own  for 
the  last  few  months,  and  I  think  there  are  some  symptoms 
that  we  are  beginning  to  lose  something  with  the  declining 
novelty  of  the  enterprise.  People  bought  it  from  curiosity 
and  a  sense  of  duty,  and  various  motives  aside  from  their 
desire  to  read  it.  The  newcomers  now  only  about  bal- 
ance those  who  fall  away.  I  mean,  if  possible,  to  make  it 
more  popular. 

To  this  Mr.  Spencer  characteristically  replied : 

I  think  you  ought  to  be  satisfied  if  The  Popular  Science 
Monthly  "  only  holds  its  own  "  if  you  have  reached  a  cir- 
culation of  12,000.  This  is,  I  think,  far  beyond  what  you 
originally  expected  to  reach,  and  you  can  hardly  expect  to 
go  on  increasing  without  check.  I  am  rather  inclined  to 

*  Hon.  J.  B.  Stallo,  of  Cincinnati,  since  minister  to  Italy,  a  thinker  of 
rare  acuteness.  The  articles  now  form  a  volume  in  the  International 
Scientific  Series. 


The  Popular  Science  Monthly.  315 

shake  my  head  when  you  talk  about  making  it  more  popu- 
lar. This  is  just  the  tendency  which  all  things  set  up  with 
a  high  standard  have  to  guard  against — the  tendency  to 
make  material  success  the  object,  to  the  overlooking  of  the 
original  object. 

Such  advice  was  congenial  to  Youmans,  and  he 
never  allowed  himself  to  be  diverted  from  his  original 
purpose.  If  timid  and  narrow-minded  people  were 
thrown  into  a  flutter  by  things  said  now  and  then  in 
the  Monthly,  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  getting  little 
else  but  praise  from  the  men  whose  esteem  was  worth 
having ;  as,  for  example,  in  the  following  letter  from 
that  embodiment  of  sound  sense  and  sturdy  despiser 
of  sciolism,  Dr.  Holmes : 

BOSTON,  May  j,  1874. 

DEAR  DR.  YOUMANS  :  I  received,  a  day  or  two  since,  the 
copy  of  Dr.  Carpenter's  Mental  Physiology,  and  thank  you 
for  your  kindness  in  transmitting  it.  I  shall  write  to  Dr. 
Carpenter,  to  whom  I  have  for  so  many  years  been  under 
frequent  obligations,  and  whose  works  I  have  known  ever 
since  I  began  teaching  anatomy  and  physiology,  and  tell 
him  how  glad  I  am  to  have  in  a  collected  form  his  original 
and  most  interesting  observations  and  ideas  with  reference 
to  the  great  problems  which  transcend  all  others  in  in- 
terest— the  mechanism  and  the  springs  of  this  perpetual 
mental  movement  which  we  can  no  more  arrest  than  we 
can  the  beating  of  our  hearts,  though  we  can  modify  it  as 
we  can  the  acts  of  respiration. 

I  must  take  this  opportunity  to  tell  you  how  much  I 
depend  on  The  Popular  Science  Monthly.  It  comes  to  me 
like  the  air  they  send  down  to  the  people  in  a  diving  bell. 
I  seem  to  get  a  fresh  breath  with  every  new  number.  Be- 
lieve me,  dear  Dr.  Youmans, 

Very  truly  yours,  O.  W.  HOLMES. 


316  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

The  Popular  Science  Monthly  has  now  been  with 
us  more  than  twenty  years,  its  founder's  mantle  hav- 
ing fallen  upon  his  younger  brother,  Dr.  William  Jay 
Youmans,  by  whom  it  is  now  edited.  Its  character 
has  always  been  of  the  highest,  and  it  has  exerted 
an  excellent  influence  not  only  as  a  diffuser  of  valu- 
able knowledge,  but  in  training  its  readers  to  scientific 
habits  of  thought  in  so  far  as  mere  reading  can  ever 
contribute  to  such  a  result. 


CHAPTER   XV. 
VARIOUS  AFFAIRS. 

1872-1878.     Age  51-57. 

IN  the  autumn  of  1872  Mr.  Youmans  did  what  he 
could  to  make  Prof.  Tyndall's  visit  to  America  pleas- 
ant and  successful.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the 
great  physicist  had  said  that  he  would  not  carry  away 
from  this  country  a  penny  earned  by  his  lectures  here. 
His  net  profit  of  $13,000  he  very  generously  placed  in 
the  hands  of  trustees,  of  whom  Youmans  was  one,  the 
annual  income  to  be  devoted  to  aiding  young  Ameri- 
cans desirous  of  prosecuting  original  research  in  the 
laboratories  of  Europe.  In  the  course  of  a  few  years 
it  became  advisable  to  change  the  application  of  the 
income  of  the  trust,  which  is  now  divided  between 
Harvard  University,  Columbia  College,  and  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania. 

Among  the  letters  received  from  Prof.  Tyndall 
during  the  autumn  of  1872  was  the  following: 

BOSTON,  Octobers,  1872. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  Thanks  many  for  both  your  let- 
ters, which  interested  and  amused  me  greatly.  This  open- 
ing of  the  International  Series  is  very  gratifying.  I  think 
in  founding  it  you  have  entered  upon  a  most  important 
enterprise. 

I  have  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Winthrop,  of  Boston, 
which  interests  me  greatly.  He  is  descended  from  John 

(317) 


318  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

Winthrop,  who  came  over  in  1630,  and  who  married  Mar- 
garet Tyndale,  whose  great-grandson  was  the  most  distin- 
guished professor  of  natural  science  in  New  England  of  his 
time.  Is  not  this  curious  ? 

The  lectures  are  going  on,  but  they  are  difficult.  The 
people  crowd  to  hear  them,  and  Mr.  Lowell  declares  that 
never  previously  were  they  held  so  fast  in  the  lecture 
room.  I  give  them  an  hour  and  a  half,  though  warned 
that  they  would  not  stand  more  than  an  hour.  Still  the 
lectures  by  no  means  please  myself,  one  reason  being  that 
I  am  at  sea  as  regards  the  intellectual  level  of  my  audi- 
ence.* .  .  . 

Go  on  and  prosper,  my  dear  Youmans,  in  the  work  you 
have  undertaken.  I  hardly  know  any  man  in  Europe  or 
America  who  enjoys  your  opportunity  of  doing  good,  and 
the  best  of  it  is  that  it  is  an  opportunity  created  by  your- 
self. 

Give  my  affectionate  regards  to  the  Methodists.     I  will 
not  return  railing  for  railing,  but,  contrariwise,  blessing. 
Yours  ever,  JOHN  TYNDALL. 

From  Tyndall's  numerous  letters  to  Youmans, 
many  of  which  are  concerned  with  business  or  else 
with  affairs  of  strictly  private  interest,  I  have  culled  a 
few  pleasant  and  characteristic  passages  : 

*  An  error  which  has  played  the  mischief  with  more  than  one  British 
lecturer  in  America,  notably  with  the  lamented  Freeman,  who  thought  it 
necessary  to  tell  his  audiences  in  Boston  and  St.  Louis  simple  outlines  of 
English  history  known  to  every  schoolboy.  As  I  remember  Tyndall's 
lectures,  however,  he  did  not  go  far  astray  in  this  direction.  Any  British 
lecturer  will  always  be  safe  in  addressing  any  American  audience  he  is 
likely  to  meet  in  exactly  the  same  way  that  he  addresses  his  audiences  at 
the  Royal  Institution  in  London  or  at  the  Philosophical  Institution  in 
Edinburgh. 


Various  Affairs.  319 

LONDON,  May  26,  1873. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  I  was  somewhat  concerned  yes- 
terday to  gather  from  a  letter  of  yours  to  Spencer  that  the 
religious  world  were  bearing  hard  upon  you — seeking  to 
damage  Appleton,  and  in  so  far  damaging  you ;  but  your 
letter  of  this  morning,  which  is  all  brightness,  dissipates 
my  concern.  Surely,  surely,  a  man  like  you  must  have 
labour  room  in  the  wide  area  of  the  States.  The  men  on 
this  side  whom  you  work  with  are  not  scoffers ;  and  if  they 
didjiot  lead  the  movements  of  the  age,  trust  me,  these  move- 
ments would  fall  into  more  irreverent  hands. 

Those  that  have  seen  The  Popular  Science  Monthly 
here  call  it  "a  delightful  magazine." 

Yours  ever,  JOHN  TYNDALL. 

September  jj,  1874. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  Thanks,  many  and  hearty,  for 
your  cordial  letter.  I  have  just  time  to  say  that  before 
this  week  ends  a  revised  copy  of  the  Belfast  Address 
shall  be  on  its  way  to  you. 

It  has  caused  tremendous  commotion.  How  foolish 
they  are !  Their  wisdom  would  have  been  shown  in  letting 
the  thing  alone,  but  they  are  not  Wisdom's  children. 

Cardinal  Cullen  has  just  appointed  three  days  of  prayer 
to  keep  infidelity  out  of  Ireland ! 

Yours  ever,  JOHN  TYNDALL. 

P.  S. — I  caught  a  glimpse  of  Spencer  yesterday,  and 
shall  dine  with  him  to-morrow.  He  is  flourishing. 

September  28,  1874. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  APPLETON  :  The  Address,  separately  pub- 
lished, is  going  off  with  exceeding  rapidity.  The  third 
thousand  was  called  for  in  three  days. 

Yours  ever  faithfully,  JOHN  TYNDALL. 


320  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

P.  S. — Being  busy  just  now,  I  have  merely  glanced  at 
Dr.  Youmans's  remarks;  but  I  have  seen  sufficient  to  as- 
sure me  of  the  sagacity,  and,  indeed,  eminent  ability  which 
mark  his  mind  in  the  treatment  of  great  questions.  I  often 
think  that  had  he  been  less  hampered  by  his  ailments  in 
youth  he  would  have  made  a  profound  mark  on  his  day  and 
generation.  Even  as  it  is,  he  is  doing  this. 

March  77,  1876. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  I  am  thoroughly  obliged  to  you 
for  your  excellent  letter.  It  gave  my  wife  and  myself 
great  joy  to  read  it.  In  fact,  there  is  a  pith  and  power  in 
your  mode  of  expressing  yourself  which  I  have  rarely  seen 
equalled,  and  which  it  does  one  good  to  read. 

I  never  thanked  you  for  your  defence  of  me  in  The 
Popular  Science  Monthly.  Let  me  do  so  now.  It  was 
quite  sufficient — quite  as  much  as  I  either  desired  or  de- 
served. 

I  wish  Bastian  had  permitted  me  to  treat  him  tenderly. 
I  expressed  this  wish  to  himself,  but,  as  Huxley  says,  ten- 
derness shown  to  him  is  sure  to  be  misinterpreted.  It  is 
surprising  how  rapidly  he  is  going  to  pieces  on  the  first 
real  shock.  He  had  a  great  number  of  believers,  but  their 
ranks  are  now  wofully  thinned.  I  sometimes  feel  in  a  re- 
lenting mood  toward  him,  but  the  matter  is  too  grave  to 
be  glossed  over. 

The  Fragments,  I  expect,  will  be  out  in  a  week  or  so. 
I  have  ordered  them  to  send  you  stereotype  plates. 

Ever  faithfully  yours,  JOHN  TYNDALL. 

An  advance  guard  or  extreme  wing  of  the  Unitari- 
ans, in  1872,  organized  themselves  into  the  Free  Re- 
ligious Association,  founding  the  Index  as  their  organ, 
with  Francis  Ellingwood  Abbot  as  editor.  The  asso- 
ciation's first  president  was  Rev.  O.  B.  Frothingham, 


Various  Affairs.  321 

and  Youmans  was  upon  the  list  of  vice-presidents, 
which  included  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson.  In  1873  the 
association  met  in  New  York,  when  Youmans  deliv- 
ered an  address,  in  Cooper  Union,  on  The  Religious 
Work  of  Science.*  In  reference  to  this  address  I  find, 
in  a  letter  to  his  mother  a  few  days  later,  the  following : 

I  saw  Mr.  Beecher  the  other  day,  and  he  was  very  full 
of  his  compliments  about  my  sermon  at  the  Cooper  Insti- 
tute, and  thought  I  had  mistaken  my  calling  and  should 
have  been  a  preacher.  He  said  my  address  was  like  a 
poultice,  and  if  scientific  men  generally  would  soften  things 
in  that  way,  all  parties  would  get  along  a  great  deal  better. 
We  must  remember,  however,  that  Beecher  is  a  foxy  fellow, 
and  knows  how  to  say  smooth  things. 

In  the  summer  of  1873  my  dear  friend's  health  be- 
gan to  be  seriously  impaired ;  his  editorial  labours 
were  arduous ;  the  International  Scientific  Series  de- 
manded constant  care ;  he  was  working  too  hard. 
Commenting  on  a  long  letter  from  him,  wherein  his 
ailments  had  been  described  in  detail,  Mr.  Spencer 
began  a  series  of  remonstrances,  continued  for  years 
afterward.  His  friend  was  exhorted  in  the  kindest 
way  to  cease  from  overwork,  to  husband  his  strength, 
to  take  such  timely  recreation  that  he  might  in  the 
long  run  be  able  to  do  the  more.  As  a  first  measure 
of  practical  reform  he  was  advised  to  engage  an  amanu- 
ensis. In  response  to  Spencer's  appeals,  he  would 
promise  to  amend  his  methods,  to  work  fewer  hours, 
to  take  regular  exercise,  to  let  subordinates  assist  him 
as  much  as  possible.  But  reform,  however  earnestly 
resolved  upon,  was  never  systematically  carried  out. 

*  It  is  given  in  full  below,  pp.  491-501. 


322  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

A  restless  anxiety  to  push  all  tasks  to  completion,  a 
natural  buoyancy  which  for  the  greater  part  of  the 
time  ignored  the  evidences  of  ill-health,  united  to  keep 
him  at  the  oar  when  mind  and  body  should  have  had 
relaxation  and  rest.  His  was  the  case  of  the  man  wise 
for  others,  not  wise  for  himself.  Next  year,  1874,  no 
sooner  did  his  health  somewhat  improve  than  he  be- 
gan to  carry  out  his  project,  long  entertained,  of  a 
Cyclopaedia  of  Household  Science,  organizing  a  corps 
of  investigators  and  writers.  His  direction  and  super- 
vision of  their  work  entailed  new  burdens  of  responsi- 
bility and  toil.  Yet  never  was  he  too  busy  or  too 
weary  to  serve  the  cause  of  evolution,  or  to  elucidate 
the  true  position  of  its  philosopher.  On  the  5th  of 
June  he  delivered  a  lecture  before  the  New  York 
Liberal  (Positivist)  Club  on  Herbert  Spencer  and  the 
Doctrine  of  Evolution.  This  lecture  appeared  in  the 
Monthly  for  the  following  November,  and  is  reprinted 
as  an  appendix  to  Mr.  Frothingham's  translation  of 
Cazelles's  Outlines  of  Evolution.* 

In  the  autumn  of  1874  overwork  entailed  its  accus- 
tomed penalty ;  his  health  again  became  poor,  and  his 
eyes  were  so  much  affected  that  he  had  to  submit  to 
curtailment  in  both  reading  and  writing.  The  next 
year  the  interests  of  the  International  Scientific  Series 
required  his  presence  in  Europe.  While  abroad  he 
had  his  cyclopaedia  constantly  in  mind,  and  gathered 
together  many  hints  and  much  material  for  it.  He 
examined  new  applications  of  science  in  the  house- 
hold ;  investigated  sanitary  appliances  and  the  newest 
methods  of  heating,  lighting,  and  ventilation.  Con- 
vinced that  among  practical  arts  cooking  was  only 

*  This  very  able  and  important  paper  is  given  in  full  below,  pp.  502-551. 


Various  Affairs.  323 

second  in  importance  to  agriculture,  he  paid  frequent 
visits  to  the  South  Kensington  School  of  Cookery, 
and  here  Miss  Youmans  entered  as  pupil  to  gather  for 
him  such  knowledge  as  practical  training  might  afford 
in  furtherance  of  his  scheme. 

Among  the  many  literary  projects  which  Youmans 
organized  for  himself  or  for  others  to  execute  I  find 
one  which  for  some  reason  or  other  was  not  carried 
out.  It  is  mentioned  in  a  letter  to  his  brother,  Mr. 
Earle  Youmans,  of  Winona,  Minn.,  who,  in  com- 
pany with  a  younger  brother,  Mr.  Addison  Youmans, 
has  for  years  carried  on  a  very  large  business  in 
lumber,  and  is,  I  should  judge,  eminently  qualified  to 
deal  successfully  with  the  interesting  and  important 
subject  mentioned. 

NEW  YORK,  December  75-,  1874. 

DEAR  BROTHER  EARLE  :  I  think  you  should  not  give 
up  the  lectures.  The  failure  of  an  audience  in  Winona 
amounts  to  nothing.  The  subject  is  the  next  great  thing 
any  way,  and  has  got  to  be  considered  by  this  people.  I 
believe  political  economy,  so  called,  is  to  take  a  new  shape 
in  the  near  future  and  become  a  branch  of  scientific  sociol- 
ogy. Hitherto  it  has  been  treated  too  much  in  its  abstrac- 
tions, and  its  great  laws  and  results  when  so  stated  are  too 
complex  to  be  grasped  by  the  mob.  A  lecture  on  the  evo- 
lution of  business,  that  should  treat  the  subject  historically 
and  begin  with  the  crudest  exchange  of  the  lowest  races 
and  trace  it  through  to  its  largest  unfoldings,  would  make 
it  more  concrete  and  link  it  on  to  the  diversified  workings 
of  human  nature  in  such  a  way  that  it  could  be  understood 
by  everybody  and  could  be  made  attractive  as  well  as  in- 
structive. Spencer's  Descriptive  Sociologies  are  an  unex- 
plored mine  of  this  kind.  If  you  will  get  up  some  lectures 
and  work  at  them  regularly,  and  not  be  in  a  hurry  about  it, 
you  can  have  the  Cooper  Institute  to  deliver  them  in  and 


324  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

three  thousand  people  to  hear  them.  I  could  get  them  into 
Hewitt's  Saturday  night  course  next  year,  and  then  publish 
them  in  the  Monthly.  The  lectures  are  of  course  free,  but 
that  makes  no  difference.  Hewitt  has  been  hunting  for 
something  of  the  sort  five  years. 

Come  down,  at  any  rate,  as  soon  after  New  Year's  as  you 
can,  and  we  will  get  the  thing  going.  We  start  a  new 
series  the  first  of  the  year  that  we  think  of  calling  The 
Popular  Science  Library.  The  volumes  will  be  sold  at  a 
dollar,  will  have  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  pages,  and 
Eliza's  translation  of  Quatrefages  will  be  the  first.  It 
will  be  a  capital  place  for  a  thoroughly  elementary  book 
on  political  economy  such  as  might  be  worked  out  by  the 
route  of  these  lectures. 

The  correspondence  is  full  of  remarks  and  allusions 
interesting  to  readers  who  are  interested  in  Youmans 
or  in  Spencer  or  in  the  doctrine  of  evolution,  and  the 
judicious  reader  (to  whom  the  power  of  skipping 
when  he  chooses  belongs  as  an  inalienable  right)  will 
not  find  fault  with  me  as  I  proceed  to  string  together 
a  few  extracts  covering  the  seven  years  from  1873 
to  1880. 

37  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  W.,  August  26,  1873. 
MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  I  greatly  regret  to  hear  that  you 
have  been  out  of  condition  and  that  things  have  been  going 
unsatisfactorily  in  respect  of  work.  I  wish  I  could  per- 
suade you  to  adopt  persistently  the  policy  of  having  an 
efficient  amanuensis.  Once  establish  the  habit  of  dictating, 
and  you  would,  I  am  sure,  find  it  a  great  economy  of  en- 
ergy and  a  great  relief;  and  it  is  clear  to  me  that  your 
state  of  health  is  such  as  to  make  it  highly  important  that 
you  should  economize  your  energies.  Instead  of  post- 
poning the  matter  of  an  amanuensis  and  hoping  to  get  satis- 
factorily fixed  presently,  as  you  have  continually  said,  you 


Various  Affairs.  325 

ought  to  make  that  the  one  thing  to  be  settled  before  all 
other  things  as  the  means  to  more  easily  doing  other  things. 
As  to  the  cost,  depend  upon  it  you  would  find  it  pay. 

Will  you  excuse  me  if  I  also  suggest  that  I  think  you  are 
apt  to  spread  your  energies  over  too  many  things.  It  strikes 
me  that  in  your  state  of  health  you  will  have  to  learn  the 
art  of  saying  "  No  "  in  respect  of  many  undertakings  sug- 
gested to  you  or  which  you  suggest  to  yourself.  Lecturing 
you  have,  if  I  understand  rightly,  given  up ;  and  I  should 
advise  you  to  adhere  rigorously  to  this  course  of  abstinence. 
You  had  better  also  abandon  all  idea  of  doing  anything 
with  the  Descriptive  Sociology.  Let  it  be  issued  by  the 
Appletons  as  other  things  have  been  and  take  its  own 
course.  In  fact  it  strikes  me  that  your  policy  should  be  to 
limit  yourself  exclusively  to  the  International  Series  and 
the  magazine. 

I  am  just  back  from  Scotland,  much  earlier  than  I  in- 
tended, having  met  with  very  bad  weather,  very  little  amuse- 
ment, and  unsatisfactory  health ;  for  though  during  this 
last  season  I  was  rejoicing  at  having  been  able  to  bear  so 
much  work,  I  found  when  I  got  away  that  I  had  overstepped 
the  limits  and  underwent  some  collapse.  I  am  still  con- 
siderably below  par,  but  hope  to  get  round  presently. 

Ever  yours,  HERBERT  SPENCER. 

The  following  refers  to  Youmans's  important  lec- 
ture before  the  Liberal  Club,  reprinted  below,  pages 

502-551: 

38  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  June  20,  1874. 
MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  Two  days  ago  I  got  your  letter, 
and  yesterday  the  copy  of  The  World.  Of  course  I  cannot 
but  rejoice  at  the  complete  success  of  your  address  and  ex- 
position. But  while  it  is  a  source  of  satisfaction  to  me  to 
have  such  able  defence  and  advocacy,  I  see  abundant  rea- 
son to  congratulate  you  upon  the  clearness  and  power  of 


326  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

that  which  is  wholly  your  own.  Your  sketch  of  the  pre- 
existing state  of  opinion,  and  of  the  irrational  compromise 
which  had  been  made  by  scientific  men  is  admirable,  and 
you  bring  into  a  vivid  light  their  failure  to  recognize  the 
changed  position  of  things  that  had  grown  up,  and  the 
necessity  for  a  total  reorganization  of  thought.  So  well 
have  you  put  the  matter  that  every  one  who  reads  must  see 
that  such  a  change  was  impending,  and  that  the  last  gen- 
eration of  scientific  men,  narrowly  disciplined  by  their 
special  studies,  were  incapable  of  seeing  it.  You  have  put 
in  immense  claims  for  me,  and  doubtless  greatly  astonished 
your  audience,  and  will  greatly  astonish  also  the  more  nu- 
merous readers  of  your  address.  Now,  however,  that  you 
have  given  the  facts  in  their  narrative  form,  referring  to 
the  sources  and  their  dates,  there  will  be,  one  would  think, 
no  gainsaying  your  general  assertion — though,  indeed,  one 
must  expect  that  with  the  usual  perversity  many  will  go  on 
saying  what  they  did  before  spite  of  its  demonstrated  un- 
truth. 

I  see  you  finally  decided  to  have  your  say  about  Emer- 
son. It  is  very  pungent,  and  will,  I  should  think,  cause 
considerable  sensation.  If,  as  you  say,  controversy  has 
been  growing  hot,  we  may  expect  it  to  grow  hotter  now 
that  you  have  added  to  it  these  burning  criticisms. 

The  German  translation  of  First  Principles  is  finished 
and  about  to  go  to  press.  It  strikes  me  that  it  might  not 
be  amiss  to  prevent  the  erroneous  idea  about  my  relations 
to  Darwin  from  spreading  in  Germany,  as  it  has  in  France 
and  elsewhere,  and  to  this  end  it  would  be  as  well  to  send 
a  copy  of  your  address  in  The  World  to  the  German  trans- 
lator, Dr.  B.  Vetter,  Seilergasse,  Dresden,  Germany.  Prob- 
ably he  will  write  a  translator's  preface,  and  he  might  take 
occasion  to  warn  readers  against  the  error. 


Various  Affairs.  327 

July  12,  1874. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  I  had  quite  intended  during  the 
week  to  write  and  send  you  the  paragraph  I  named  to  fill 
the  cut-out  space,  but  I  have  been  so  busy  preparing  to 
leave  for  Scotland  on  Tuesday  that  I  have  been  unable.  I 
must  leave  it  to  you  to  do  it  or  not,  as  you  see  fit. 

What  I  thought  desirable  was  to  reindicate,  in  the  brief- 
est way,  the  growth  of  the  idea*  onward  from  1842,  its 
growing  comprehensiveness  and  definiteness,  the  recogni- 
tion of  the  process  of  selection  in  the  case  of  human  be- 
ings, the  adoption  of  the  idea  of  increasing  heterogeneity 
and  its  gradual  extension  in  various  directions,  the  reap- 
pearance of  these  ideas  in  the  Psychology  in  a  combined 
form,  with  the  idea  of  integration  as  joining  differentiation 
and  the  entire  interpretation  of  mind  on  evolution  princi- 
ples;  then  to  indicate  that  in  1857  the  law  of  evolution, 
considered  inductively  as  increasing  heterogeneity,  was 
enunciated  as  universal  as  well  as  the  deductive  interpreta- 
tion of  it  as  due  to  the  instability  of  the  homogeneous  and 
the  multiplication  of  effects;  and  that  the  doctrine  as  it 
now  stands  was  thus,  in  its  universality  and  its  chief  out- 
lines, set  forth  two  years  before  the  Origin  of  Species  ap- 
peared. You  have  clearly  enough  stated  at  the  end  this 
independent  origin  of  the  doctrine  ;  but  what  strikes  me  is 
that  this  fact  would  be  much  more  clearly  seized  if  in  the 
narration  you  briefly  indicated  the  stage  it  had  reached  be-' 
fore  Darwin  published.  But  I  leave  this  hint  for  you  to 
act  on  or  not,  as  you  think  well. 

November  6,  1874. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  On  my  return  to  town  last  night, 
after  a  week's  absence,  I  found  among  various  other  things 
your  last  number  of  the  Monthly.  I  had  no  idea  you  were 

*  I.  e.,  the  growth  of  the  idea  of  evolution  in  his  own  mind. 


328  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

going  to  reproduce  your  lecture  there.  I  am  immensely 
indebted  to  you  for  all  the  trouble  you  are  taking  to  rectify 
current  misconceptions;  and,  what  with  your  lecture,  and 
this  republication  with  its  sundry  improvements,  and  the 
publication  of  the  volume,  you  will  do  it  very  effectually. 

NEW  YORK,  November  24,  1874. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  I  have  yours  of  October  8th,  re- 
garding the  lecture  in  the  Monthly.  I  see  many  indica- 
tions that  it  is  doing  pretty  effectual  work.  It  seems  to 
have  gone  counter  to  current  opinions  regarding  yourself 
and  Darwin  much  more  strongly  than  I  was  prepared  for. 
I  have  had  many  letters  and  messages  acknowledging  in- 
debtedness for  its  statements.  On  the  whole,  it  was  an 
excellent  job,  though  it  has  taken  a  prodigious  long  time. 
Mr.  Emerson  is  amusing.  He  protests  that  he  has  been 
quite  misunderstood,  and  never  applied  the  term  "stock 
writer"  to  Mr.  Spencer  in  any  disparaging  sense. 

38  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  LONDON,  January  29,  1875. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  I  was  glad  to  get  your  letter  of 
the  i3th.  I  think  you  are  running  a  great  risk  with  your 
eyes  in  using  them  before  they  are  quite  strong  again. 
You  had  much  better  postpone  your  Chemistry  and  take 
your  rest  first.  It  is  this  endeavour  just  to  finish  some- 
thing in  hand  before  leaving  off  that  is  the  cause  of  nearly 
every  breakdown.  I  have  seen  it  so  in  myself  and  in  all 
around  me.  Pray  take  warning.  Instead  of  the  common 
attitude,  This  business  must  be  done  even  at  the  cost  of 
health,  the  attitude  should  be,  My  body  must  be  attended 
to  even  at  the  cost  of  business. 

NEW  YORK,  April 3,  1875. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  You  are  making  very  clean  work 
with  this  matter  of  Origin  of  Religion,  but  in  certain  re- 
spects the  cleaner  the  worse.  There  is  great  irritability  in 


Various  Affairs.  329 

the  theological  mind  since  Tyndall's  bombshell,*  and  I 
have  my  foot  pretty  well  into  the  difficulty.  Our  concern 
is  very  sharply  watched. 

My  Chemistry  is  still  dragging  through  the  press,  the 
Monthly  has  to  be  attended  to,  and  I  have  just  had  one  of 
my  eyes  cauterized.  From  these  complications  you  can 
infer  the  difficulty  I  have  in  getting  away. 

Old  students  of  Mr.  Spencer's  works  will  recollect 
the  amusing  vehemence  with  which  he  was  attacked 
in  the  British  Quarterly  Review  of  October,  1873,  and 
January,  1874,  by  a  young  Cambridge  mathematician 
named  Moulton.  The  articles  contained  many  lu- 
dicrous misconceptions ;  among  other  things  the 
writer  actually  accused  Mr.  Spencer  of  identifying 
persistence  of  force  with  conservation  of  energy !  f 
In  two  letters  from  Spencer  to  Youmans  I  find  allu- 
sions to  this  affair  which  have  some  interest,  since 
Cayley  and  Sylvester  are  probably  the  two  greatest 
English  mathematicians  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

April  if,  1874. 

Last  night  Hirst  gave  me  the  satisfactory  information 
that  Cayley  entirely  agrees  with  me  in  the  controversy  with 
Moulton,  and  thought  Moulton  deserved  all  he  got. 

April  14,  1875. 

I  received  a  few  days  ago  a  piece  of  information  that 
gratified  me  extremely.  Sylvester  came  up  to  me  at  the 
club  and  told  me  that  he  had  recently  been  at  Cam- 
bridge, where  he  had  dined  at  the  fellows'  table  at  the 
college  to  which  Moulton  belongs.  Moulton's  name  came 

*  I.  e.,  the  celebrated  Belfast  Address. 

f  The  reply  to  the  reviewer  may  be  found  in  Spencer's  Essays,  vol.  iii, 
PP-  307-34L 
15 


33°  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

up,  and  it  led  to  a  conversation  respecting  the  contro- 
versy. He  said  that  there  was  but  one  opinion  about 
the  matter,  namely,  that  Moulton  had  committed  himself 
grossly.  He  said  that  there  was  quite  a  "  chorus  "  of  ex- 
pressions of  "  wonder  "  that  he  should  have  made  such  a 
blunder.  Sylvester  said  that  the  unanimity  of  the  verdict 
was  just  as  though  Moulton  had  compromised  himself 
among  a  number  of  mathematicians  by  a  serious  error  in 
mathematics. 

That  this  should  be  felt  in  his  own  university  and  in  his 
own  college,  in  spite  of  the  esprit  de  corps,  is  remarkable, 
and  more  than  I  should  have  thought  possible.  It  relieves 
me  greatly. 

Youmans's  visit  to  England  in  the  summer  of  1875 
did  not  recruit  his  strength  so  much  as  had  been 
hoped  ;  that  great  fund  of  vitality  had  been  drawn 
upon  too  lavishly.  He  returned  to  New  York  in 
November. 

37  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  W.  LONDON,  November  29, 1873. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  I  have  been  often  thinking  of  you 
since  you  left,  in  consequence  of  the  very  bad  weather  we 
have  had,  fearing  that  you  must  have  been  dreadfully  tossed 
on  the  Atlantic,  and  perhaps  so  disgusted  as  to  repent  of 
your  resolution  to  repeat  your  visits. 

The  new  edition  of  Bain  has  reached  me.  I  think  it 
greatly  improved,  and,  though  he  takes  to  the  doctrine  of 
evolution  in  rather  a  gingerly  way,  still  he  has  made  a  great 
step  for  one  brought  up  under  the  regime  of  pure  em- 
piricism. The  book  is  admirable  from  a  natural  history 
point  of  view. 

Some  things  of  interest  have  occurred  since  you  left. 
The  Professor  of  Philosophy  at  Copenhagen  sends  me  a 
work  on  Modern  English  Philosophy,  of  which  a  large  part 


Various  Affairs.  331 

is  devoted  to  the  synthetic  philosophy,  and  in  a  letter  giv- 
ing his  cordial  adhesion  he  proposes  to  translate  some  of 
the  essays  into  Danish,  regretting  that  there  is  not  a  suf- 
ficient public  for  the  large  works.  Dr.  Vetter  is  beginning 
to  translate  the  Biology,  and  the  French  translation  of  the 
Biology,  Gazelles  tells  me,  is  finished — the  fifth  volume 
being  in  Bailhere's  hands.  I  heard  the  other  day,  too,  that 
the  Japanese  are  beginning  to  translate ! 

I  hope  to  get  a  letter  shortly  telling  me  of  your  safe 
arrival. 

37  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  December  iS,  1875. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  I  am  very  sorry  indeed  to  have 
an  account  of  your  health  that  is  so  unsatisfactory  alike 
by  what  it  says  and  by  what  it  implies.  To  think  that  you 
should  have  come  over  here  mainly  to  recruit,  and  now 
that  you  should  be  apparently  no  better  than  when  you 
left,  and  all  because  you  would  go  on  working  and  worry- 
ing instead  of  resting  !  Your  intention  to  be  careful  now 
amounts  to  nothing ;  you  have  all  along  been  intending 
that  and  doing  the  contrary.  That  you  will  either  cut 
short  your  life  or  incapacitate  yourself  is  an  inference  one 
cannot  avoid  drawing,  seeing  that  in  your  case,  as  in  a 
host  of  other  cases,  experience  seems  to  have  not  the 
slightest  effect.  It  is  a  kind  of  work-drunkenness,  and  you 
seem  to  be  no  more  able  to  resist  the  temptation  to  work 
than  the  dipsomaniac  resists  alcohol.  Excuse  my  strong 
expressions.  I  use  them  in  the  hope  that  they  may  do  some 
good,  though  it  is  a  very  faint  hope.  ...  As  though  ful- 
filment of  some  passing  purpose  was  necessary,  and  main- 
tenance of  life  unnecessary  !  What  is  the  use  of  all  this 
propagation  of  knowledge  if  it  is  to  end  in  such  results  ? 

38  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  December  28,  1875. 
The  other  day  I  received  some  news  from  Russia  which 
will  interest  you.     A  professor  at  Kiev  proposes,  in  con- 
junction with  his  colleagues  and  pupils,  to  translate  the 


332  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

Descriptive  Sociology.  He  tells  me,  to  my  surprise,  that 
all  my  books  have  now  been  translated  into  Russian  with 
the  exception  of  the  Descriptive  Sociology,  which  will  thus 
soon  be  added  to  the  list.  Further  he  tells  me  that  he  has 
proposed  to  the  Historical  Society  of  Kiev  to  make  a  like 
classification  and  tabulation  of  Russian  history.  The  name 
of  this  Russian  is  Lontchitzice. 

NEW  YORK,  May  ig,  1876. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  Your  father's  little  work  on  In- 
ventional  Geometry  is  now  in  the  hands  of  the  printers, 
and  we  shall  bring  out  a  neat  edition  of  it  in  the  form  of 
Macmillan's  Science  Primers,  of  which  Hooker  furnished 
the  last,  on  Botany.  I  propose  to  include  the  Inventional 
Geometry  in  this  series,  and  it  will  be  the  best  of  the  lot, 
although  it  involves  too  honest  work  to  suit  our  teachers 
and  our  habits.  I  trust  it  will  have  sale  enough  at  any 
rate  to  pay  expenses,  and  in  here  and  there  a  mind  it  will 
bear  fruit.  I  think  you  told  me,  when  some  time  ago  I 
spoke  of  reprinting  it,  that  you  would  make  a  little  preface 
for  it,  recognizing  the  benefit  you  had  yourself  derived  from 
its  method.  If  you  can  now  send  me  a  few  lines  to  that 
effect,  or  saying  whatever  you  wish  about  it,  I  shall  be  very 
glad,  as  they  will  be  valuable  in  drawing  the  attention  of 
teachers  to  the  book  and  to  the  method  it  illustrates. 

38  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  September  /j,  1876. 
MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  I  returned  from  Scotland  about  a 
week  since  and  am  just  getting  into  work  again.  .  .  .  Since 
I  wrote  last  I  have  received  a  copy  of  the  Italian  transla- 
tion of  the  Education,  and  also  a  copy  of  the  translation  of 
three  parts  of  it  into  Danish.  The  first  part  of  the  Ger- 
man translation  of  Biology  is,  I  believe,  through  the  press. 
The  first  volume  of  the  Sociology  is  to  be  undertaken  by 
Dr.  Vetter  as  soon  as  the  Biology  is  out  of  hand,  and  he 


Various  Affairs.  333 

will  commence  the  Psychology  as  soon  as  this  first  volume 
of  the  Sociology  is  issued. 

A  curious  fact  turned  up  the  other  day  which  will  in- 
terest or,  at  any  rate,  amuse  you.  I  think  I  told  you  years 
ago  that  the  name  Youmans,  differently  spelt  Yeomans,  is 
not  uncommon  in  Derbyshire.  While  staying  at  Derby  a 
few  days  on  my  way  to  the  south,  I  fulfilled  an  intention  I 
have  long  entertained  of  going  over  to  the  village  whence 
our  family  came — Kirk  Ireton,  in  Derbyshire — with  the  view 
of  tracing  ancestry  farther  back  than  my  great-great- 
grandfather, respecting  whom  I  have  information  in  a  law 
deed.  While  in  the  village  I  observed  within  a  stone's 
throw  of  the  house  in  which  my  grandfather  was  born  a 
sign  with  the  name  Geo.  Yeomans  on  it.  This  is  not  all. 
When  I  returned  here,  and  was  examining  the  law  papers, 
I  found  among  them  plans  of  some  cottages  that  had  be- 
longed to  our  family  in  Kirk  Ireton,  with  the  tenant's  name 
written  on  the  plans.  One  of  the  tenants'  names  was  Yeo- 
mans. So  you  see  it  is  within  the  bounds  of  possibility 
that  our  families  came  from  the  same  neighbourhood,  per- 
haps from  the  same  village. 

I  write  this  letter  chiefly  to  intimate  that  I  am  back,  and 
shall  be  glad  to  hear  from  you. 

In  the  course  of  1876  it  had  become  clear  that  the 
rapid  progress  of  chemical  science  necessitated  a  fresh 
revision  of  the  ever-popular  Class-Book  of  Chemistry ; 
so  Youmans  began  the  work,  with  Mr.  Froebel  and 
Miss  Shaw  as  assistants,  and  finished  it  in  the  course 
of  the  next  two  years. 

It  was  in  this  summer  of  1876,  one  of  the  fiercest 
seasons  even  of  this  land  of  sweltering  heat,  that  Prof. 
Huxley  and  his  wife  made  their  visit  to  the  United 
States.  The  visit  was  for  recreation,  and  Huxley  gave 
no  formal  lectures  except  in  New  York,  when  he  point- 


334  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

ed  out  the  evidences  for  Darwinism  furnished  by  sun- 
dry newly  found  American  fossils.  His  journey  was 
carried  out  according  to  the  plan  outlined  in  the  fol- 
lowing letter : 

EDINBURGH,  June  27, 1876. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  Your  letter  of  the  fourteenth 
reached  me  this  evening.  My  lectures  in  London  begin  on 
October  4th,  so  that  I  must  leave  New  York  not  later  than 
September  23d.  I  suppose  a  White  Star  sails  on  that  day. 
I  have  laid  out  my  course  roughly  as  follows,  on  the  sup- 
position that  we  arrive  in  New  York  at  the  end  of  the  first 
week  in* August  (that  gives  me  just  seven  weeks  clear) : 

First  week,  Marsh's  fossils,  New  Haven. 

Second  week,  Agassiz,  Newport. 

Third  week,  Fiske,  Petersham. 

Fourth  week,  American  Association,  Buffalo. 

Fifth  week,  tour  to  Nashville,  taking  Mammoth  Cave  on 
the  way. 

Sixth  week,  Baltimore,  where  I  am  to  give  an  address, 
and  Philadelphia. 

Seventh  week,  lectures  in  New  York.     THREE  ! 

I  will  take  for  lecture  days  September  i8th,  2oth,  22d, 
and  be  off  on  the  23d,  leaving  the  whole  population  of 
New  York  on  the  quay  in  tears  at  my  departure. 

Now  I  think  this  is  behaving  very  properly.  I  quite 
agree  with  you  that  I  may  as  well  give  three  lectures  as 
two,  and  the  topic  shall  be  the  direct  evidence  of  evolu- 
tion. I  cannot  bring  diagrams,  so  you  must  provide  me 
with  blackboard  space  and  abundant  chalk.  That  is  the 
only  stipulation  I  have  to  make;  the  rest  you  must  arrange 
at  your  own  sweet  will. 

As  to  publication  of  the  lectures,  I  would  rather  leave 
the  point  open.  Instead  of  getting  the  leisure  I  expected, 
here  I  am  harassed  with  another  confounded  commission 
in  the  Scottish  universities,  which  wastes  half  my  time  and 


Various  Affairs.  335 

throws  all  my  plans  out  of  gear.  Pray  offer  my  best  thanks 
to  Prof.  Marsh  for  his  courtesy ;  I  hope  to  avail  myself  of 
it  very  largely. 

At  Buffalo  my  mouth  shall  drop  nothing  but  buttered 
pearls,  such  as  we  dispense  at  the  British  Association.     My 
wife  and  I  will  devote  ourselves  mainly  to  Niagara. 
Ever,  my  dear  Youmans,  faithfully  yours, 

T.  H.  HUXLEY. 

NEW  YORK,  September  15,  1876. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  I  think  I  told  you  that  a  gentle- 
man in  Wisconsin  had  offered  to  index  your  work  for  us. 
He  has  sent  us  the  index  for  the  First  Principles,  which  is 
now  in  the  printers'  hands,  and  is  well  done.  He  is  at  pres- 
ent occupied  upon  the  Sociology,  and  we  shall  have  that 
ready  so  as  not  to  hinder  the  printing. 

This  gentleman's  name  is  Leland.  I  have  had  my  eye 
on  him  for  five  years  as  an  assistant  or  co-worker,  and 
have  now  engaged  him  on  my  Cyclopaedia  for  two  years. 
He  is  now  a  cashier  in  a  bank,  is  a  thoroughgoing  man  of 
business,  a  practiced  bookkeeper,  a  writer  on  currency  and 
social  reforms  for  The  Nation  and  other  periodicals,  a  good 
practical  geologist  and  botanist,  and  a  man  who  has  your 
works  almost  by  heart.  He  is  a  vigorous  and  steady  worker, 
and  I  count  on  his  pulling  me  through,  as  I  am  badly  break- 
ing in  the  power  of  accomplishment.  Although  he  will  be 
mainly  occupied  on  the  Cyclopaedia,  Mr.  Leland  will  give  me 
assistance  on  the  Monthly,  and  wherever  he  can  be  of  best 
use. 

We  expect  the  Huxleys  to  come  to-night.  Huxley  will 
give  his  three  lectures  in  New  York  next  week,  and  sail 
next  Saturday.  His  tour  has  been  a  laborious  ovation 
rather  than  a  restful  vacation,  for  which  he  can  blame  no- 
body but  himself.  If  he  had  been  less  good-natured  he 
would  have  been  more  free. 


336  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

LONDON,  January  16,  1877. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  The  chapter  which  I  have  just  com- 
menced is  The  Family,  and  will  contain  a  good  deal  of  inter- 
esting matter.  In  the  first  place,  evidence  of  the  relation 
between  polygamy  and  the  militant  state  of  the  race  and  of 
monogamy  along  with  the  rise  of  the  industrial  state  ;  fur- 
ther, a  criticism  on  the  doctrines  of  Sir  Henry  Maine,  show- 
ing their  inapplicability  to  all  stages  of  society  below  the 
pastoral,  and  showing  why  the  family  as  it  enters  into  mod- 
ern civilizations  acquired  the  traits  derived  from  the  pas- 
toral state ;  and  further,  an  important  contrast  between  the 
fundamental  principles  of  family  ethics  and  the  fundamental 
principles  of  social  ethics,  indicating  the  evils  which  arise 

from  confusing  the  two. 

NEW  YORK,  March  2,  1877. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  I  have  given  a  note  to  Mr.  E.  Mc- 
Clintock,  of  Milwaukee,  for  yourself.  He  is  a  very  nice 
fellow,  a  profound  mathematician,  and  stands  very  high  in 
the  Northwest.  His  business  is  that  of  an  insurance 
actuary,  and  his  head  has  broken  down  so  that  he  has  had 
to  stop.  I  think  he  was  anxious  to  speak  to  you,  but  was 
very  modest  about  it. 

A  prejudice  is  growing  up  against  me  as  a  great  fighter. 
I  am  inclined  to  stop  the  controversial  policy,  and  let  things 
shift  for  themselves,  as  it  is  less  and  less  matter  how  they  go. 

The  outlook  is  not  clear.  As  an  illustration  of  how  flat 
the  book  trade  has  been  for  the  past  six  months,  I  may 
mention  that  my  five  per  cent  on  the  International  Series 
yields  me  but  three  hundred  dollars  for  the  lot.  But  now 
that  we  have  a  usurper  foisted  into  the  presidential  chair 
by  sheer  political  trickery  we  may  hope  for  more  pros- 
perity. 

ARDTONISH  TOWER,  September  9,  1877. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  I  start  south  on  next  Thursday, 
and  expect  to  be  in  town  next  day.  The  last  week  has 
been  doing  me  great  good. 


Various  Affairs.  337 

I  was  amused  by  the  applause  of  the  Comtists.  It  is 
droll  to  see  them  taking  the  proof  that  religions  have  all 
arisen  from  ancestor  worship  as  justification  of  the  "  re- 
ligion of  humanity."  Hereafter  I  shall  have  to  point  out 
how  odd  it  is  that  Comte  should  have  proposed  a  rehabili- 
tation of  ancestor  worship  at  the  very  time  when  our  eman- 
cipation from  it  is  becoming  tolerably  complete  ! 

I  was  not  sorry  either  to  see  them  defending  Noyes  & 
Co.  against  me.  It  will  serve  usefully  to  bring  out  the 
contrast.  Ever  yours, 

HERBERT  SPENCER. 

38  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  LONDON,  October  12, 1877. 

DEAR  BROTHER  :  The  weather  has  been  fine  since  my 
arrival,  unusually  dry  and  bracing  for  London,  and  I  have 
both  enjoyed  it  and  improved  by  it.  I  have  been  out  a 
good  deal,  walked  much,  and  driven  some  in  the  omnibus, 
and  altogether  I  feel  a  great  deal  better  for  the  experience. 
The  stir  and  action  was  what  I  needed,  and  it  comes  now 
in  the  best  shape,  as  I  make  all  my  excursions  with  some 
object. 

Mr.  Spencer,  I  think,  looks  extremely  well,  but  he  can- 
not keep  steadily  at  his  work.  It  is  probable  that  slight 
circumstances  derange  him  now  more  than  formerly.  He 
talks  of  the  possibility  of  his  not  being  able  to  get  through 
with  his  enterprise,  and  proposes  to  outline  some  important 
feature  of  his  Principles  of  Morality  at  odd  times,  so  that 
this  most  important  portion  of  his  work  shall  not  be  left 
blank  in  case  of  a  breakdown.  He  is  going  very  thor- 
oughly through  the  Study  of  Sociology,  revising  it  with  a 
view  to  style,  proposing  to  make  it  his  most  perfect  work 
in  this  respect.  It  is  funny  that  a  volume  which  I  bullied 
him  into  preparing  should  be  chosen  for  this  honour.  It  is 
interesting  to  look  over  the  volume  and  see  what  thorough 
work  he  is  making  with  it ;  every  page  is  blackened  with 
erasures  and  slashings. 


Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 


LONDON,  October  /<?,  7^77. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE  :  I  have  now  been  here  a  week  and  two 
days.  It  seems  as  if  it  had  been  two  months.  As  I  wrote 
to  Jay,  I  am  very  glad  I  came.  It  was  important  for  busi- 
ness reasons,  and  it  has  afforded  the  break  I  needed,  or  at 
all  events  the  test  of  my  condition,  which  it  was  important 
I  should  have.  And  it  turns  out  that  there  was  a  pretty  bad 
state  of  physical  deterioration  and  lack  of  vigour.  A  cold 
fastened  upon  me  at  first,  and  I  have  not  been  able  to 
throw  it  off.  I  am  better  of  it,  but  it  hangs  about  me  and 
almost  unfits  me  for  anything. 

I  have  not  seen  the  Tyndalls  yet,  as  they  have  been  out 
of  town  and  will  not  return  till  the  last  of  next  week.  I 
went  with  Mr.  Spencer  to  the  Huxleys'  last  Sunday  evening, 
and  we  had  a  very  quiet  hour  and  a  half,  there  being  no- 
body there.  They  asked  particularly  after  you,  and  Mrs. 
Huxley  referred  repeatedly  to  the  lunch  you  gave  her. 

Went  down  to  King's,  at  Epping.  I  was  miserable,  and 
could  hardly  get  through  it  (and  here  comes  Spencer,  who 
has  taken  up  my  case  and  is  heading  me  off  in  everything 
and  fights  my  doing  anything;  and  he  says:  "What!  is 
not  one  sheet  enough  ?  I  never  saw  anything  like  it.  No 
wonder  you  are  so  pale  and  miserable  !  you  don't  know 
what  rest  means.")  The  Huxley  family  is  all  well  grown, 
and  they  are  very  cosy.  Huxley  says  he  is  very  well,  but 
he  does  not  look  it.  I  have  assigned  a  fortnight  from  to- 
day on  which  to  sail  (in  the  Germanic),  and  shall  probably 
do  so,  but  Spencer  is  strongly  opposed  to  it>  and  insists 
very  emphatically  on  my  staying. 

LONDON,  October  29,  1877. 

DEAR  SISTER  :  Nothing  remains  but  to  write,  and  there 
is  little  to  write  of  but  personal  experiences.  These  are 
monotonously  varied.  On  Friday  I  felt  a  little  aching  in 
my  right  wrist  in  writing  ;  on  Saturday  it  became  very 
painful  to  write.  Saturday  evening  my  arm  became  in- 


Various  Affairs.  339 

tensely  painful,  and  I  began  to  grow  anxious.  I  went  to 
bed,  but  did  not  sleep  much,  as  my  arm  was  never  free 
from  pain.  Sunday  morning  I  was  pretty  badly  off,  and 
was  thoroughly  scared.  It  was  so  much  like  the  old  at- 
tack of  inflammatory  rheumatism  I  had  in  my  forearm  at 
Saratoga  that  I  began  to  contemplate  another  siege.  I 
could  dress  myself  only  with  great  difficulty,  doing  every- 
thing with  my  left  hand.  My  right  wrist  was  much  swoll- 
en, and  it  pained  me  acutely  to  touch  it.  Spencer  was  in 
a  great  fume.  Lord,  how  he  did  give  it  to  me  at  breakfast ! 
It  was  Sunday,  and  the  day  was  splendid.  He  forbade  my 
going  out.  We  were  to  dine  at  Busk's  in  the  evening,  and 
that  I  had  to  give  up.  After  preaching  till  he  was  tired 
about  my  imprudence,  etc.,  he  went  out  to  a  druggist's 
and  had  some  liniment  made,  brought  it  in,  and  called 
"Jeames,"  the  waiter,  who  came.  Then  he  told  me  to 
"  take  off  my  coat,"  which  with  "  Jeames's  "  help  I  did,  and 
it  nearly  killed  me.  Then  the  servant  was  ordered  to  rub 
my  arm  with  the  liniment.  The  brute  went  at  it  and  nearly 
killed  me.  It  was  horribly  excruciating,  but  he  kept  at  it, 
rubbing  around  the  sore  place,  and  finally  I  took  it  up  my- 
self, and  by  very  gentle  friction  at  first  I  was  able,  after  a 
time,  to  increase  the  friction,  and  in  an  hour  the  acute  pain 
was  all  gone.  I  repeated  the  process  half  a  dozen  times, 
and  in  the  evening  was  nearly  all  right  again.  While  in 
the  morning  I  could  hardly  bend  my  fingers,  at  night  I 
could  grasp  firmly  with  my  hand.  I  slept  well ;  and,  al- 
though the  wrist  is  stiff  and  somewhat  sore  this  morning,  I 
write  with  only  a  little  aching.  The  swelling,  however,  is 
not  quite  all  gone  yet.  It  is  raining  like  great  guns,  and  I 
am  again  forbidden  to  go  out.  It  is  just  as  well.  This 
sitting  in  the  house  and  doing  nothing  is  a  great  thing, 
and  I  think  is  doing  me  much  good. 

Spencer  went  to  Busk's,  and  put  his  dressing-gown  on 
me  over  my  coat  before  he  left,  and  covered  my  pate  with 


34-O  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

his  smoking-cap,  and  so  I  snoozed  by  the  fire.  I  shall  have 
to  abate  my  ambition  to  do  things,  and  take  it  easier  in  this 
wretched  November  till  I  can  get  out  of  it.  ...  Charles 
Peirce  isn't  read  much  on  this  side.  Clifford,  however, 
says  he  is  the  greatest  living  logician,  and  the  second  man 
since  Aristotle  who  has  added  to  the  subject  something 
material,  the  other  man  being  George  Boole,  author  of  The 
Laws  of  Thought.  Clifford  is  in  miserable  health. 

November  5,  1877. 

MY  DEAR  SISTER:  Yesterday  morning  Spencer  asked 
me  if  I  would  go  over  to  see  the  Leweses  in  the  afternoon, 
as  they  were  recently  back  from  the  country.  So  I  went. 
Coming  back,  he  said  he  didn't  go  to  Leweses  any  more  on 
Sunday  unless  to  take  a  friend,  but  he  lunched  there  not 
infrequently,  and  they  had  it  all  to  themselves  without  in- 
terruption. There  was  not  only  great  cordiality,  but  pro- 
found respect  and  admiration  for  Spencer  on  the  part  of 
the  Leweses.  I  enjoyed  it.  I  was  more  at  my  ease  than 
before,  and  could  study  them.  They  both  look  immensely 
older,  but  are  both  intellectually  strong.  She  is  mortal 
homely,  but  very  attractive  from  the  brightness  of  her  face 
when  talking.  She  speaks,  however,  too  deliberately,  with 
too  studied  an  air,  and  almost  a  dash  of  self-consciousness. 
The  conversation  was  light,  and  did  not  run  into  discussion. 
Mrs.  Lewes  asked  after  you  and  your  work  in  regard  to 
children,  expressing  a  hearty  commendation  of  it,  and  say- 
ing she  had  seen  your  Botany- and  it  interested  her — all  of 
which,  bear  in  mind,  she  certainly  never  got  from  me.  A 
sister  of  Lady  Amberley  came  in  with  her  husband,  a  Mr. 
Howard,  who  will  be  an  earl  in  a  short  time,  and  presently 
we  left.  Spencer  went  to  the  club  and  I  went  to  Huxley's 
last  evening. 

/ 
Soon  after  his  return  to  America  he  paid  a  visit  to 

a  newly  married  niece   at  her  home  in  Connecticut, 


Various  Affairs.  341 

and  upon  getting  home  again  to  New  York  he  wrote 
her  the  following  characteristic  epistle  : 

NEW  YORK,  January  /j>,  1878. 

MY  DEAR  NIECE  :  It  was  both  jolly  and  queer  to  find 
you  "  settled,"  for  it  is  only  the  other  day  that  I  saw  you 
brought  out  of  the  bedroom  fresh,  ruddy,  and  squalling, 
when  you  at  once  became  official  rag  baby  for  the  neighbour- 
hood. It  seems  about  six  weeks  ago,  and  now  you  are  at 
the  head  of  a  concern  yourself,  and  will  be  a  grandmother 
long  before  the  century  is  out.  So  it  did  seem  funny  to  see 
you  ruling  an  establishment  on  the  Naugatuck  under  an 
assumed  name. 

Yet  I  greatly  enjoyed  the  visit,  for,  although  it  was  a 
sort  of  milestone  showing  how  fast  life  is  spinning  away,  I 
did  not  allow  this  reflection  to  trouble  me,  but  rather  drew 
encouragement  from  it  that  I  am  getting  pretty  nearly 
through.  .  .  . 

I  was  glad  to  see  that  you  had  not  gone  through  the 
cooking  school  in  vain.  Stick  to  the  subject ;  keep  at  it. 
I  tell  you  that  cooking  and  housekeeping  make  up  the  one 
satisfying,  happifying,  and  ever-paying  thing  for  a  woman. 
Study  it ;  practice  it ;  improve  it ;  and  make  some  one  point 
ahead  at  least  every  three  days.  The  range  plays  a  better 
music  than  the  piano,  as  time  will  show. 

Few  men  realized  so  thoroughly  and  constantly  as 
Youmans  to  how  vast  an  extent  the  physical,  intellec- 
tual, and  moral  elevation  of  mankind  is  going  to  be 
effected  by  the  simple,  obscure,  and  unambitious 
achievement  of  making  the  home  comfortable  and 
.pleasant.  Upon  current  political  matters  his  judg- 
ment was  equally  sound,  and  the  relations  between 
cause  and  effect  were  quite  clear  to  him. 


342  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

NEW  YORK,  January  <?,  1878. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER:  Times  are  still  tight.  The  promise 
of  revived  business  which  was  made  in  autumn  has  not 
been  kept.  To  me  things  now  look  worse  than  ever.  The 
collapse  that  you  feared  would  come  crashing  after  the 
war  was  escaped,  but  I  fear  the  essential  difficulty  was  only 
postponed.  The  people  have  now  leisure  to  contemplate 
the  stupendous  rottenness  of  the  whole  greenback  war 
policy,  by  which  they  were  sold  to  the  speculators  of  the 
world  and  buried  under  an  avalanche  of  indebtedness. 

The  spirit  of  repudiation  is  rife  among  the  people,  and 
in  some  places  rampant  and  unchecked.  How  much  sound- 
ness remains  in  American  financial  feeling  will  be  tested 
by  the  result  of  the  present  tremendous  effort  to  pay  off 
the  national  bonds  in  depreciated  silver.  Hence  the  con- 
tinued depression  and  prostration  of  business  and  the  har- 
vest of  bankruptcies  and  defalcations,  in  which  the  element 
of  fraud  is  so  frequent  and  prominent  as  to  cause  wide- 
spread alarm.  There  is  continued  inquiry  about  your 
books,  and  I  yesterday  sent  a  letter  to  the  West  replying 
to  questions  about  new  editions.  People  are  very  ignorant, 
and  there  is  no  end  to  the  work  of  explanation. 

March  8,  1878. 

Our  country  has  entered  upon  the  course  of  deliberate 
repudiation.  This  is  what  I  could  not  have  believed  pos- 
sible, for  I  have  always  believed  that,  whatever  else  were 
let  go,  the  Americans  would  have  maintained  their  trading 
integrity  on  the  simple  ground  of  self-interest.  You  will 
have  in  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette  of  to-day  the  intelligence  of 
the  passage  of  the  Silver  bill  over  the  President's  veto.* 
When  the  veto  message  was  read  there  was  not  a  solitary 
man  in  the  House  or  in  the  Senate  to  say  a  good  word  for 

*  The  reference  is  to  the  infamous  Bland  bill. 


Various  Affairs.  343 

it,  which  is  wholly  unprecedented  in  the  history  of  such 
transactions,  and,  moreover,  gives  the  clue  to  the  present 
wretched  situation.  The  President  has  not  a  friend  in 
either  party.  He  was  swindled  into  his  place,  and  every- 
body knows  it — a  fact  which  strips  him  of  all  real  weight 
and  influence.  The  consequence  has  been  a  sort  of  de- 
moralization of  parties  which  has  made  it  possible  for  the 
wealthy  mining  interests  of  the  West  to  enter  the  field  and 
carry  all  before  them.  Had  Tilden  been  inaugurated  there 
would  not  have  been  the  shadow  of  a  chance  of  the  present 
scandalous  result.  He  would  have  wielded  his  party  with 
its  strong  majority  in  the  House,  so  that  the  question  of 
paying  our  bonds  in  depreciated  currency  would  not  even 
have  been  opened.  But  with  the  imbecility  of  the  Admin- 
istration and  the  chaotic  condition  of  parties  that  has  come 
from  it  the  measure  was  rushed  through  with  as  much  favour 
on  one  side  as  on  the  other. 

As  for  myself,  I  am  just  now  pretty  well,  but  have  not 
been  worth  much  for  some  time  back.  I  am  fortunate  in 
one  thing :  my  brother  is  very  efficient ;  and  as  he  acquires 
experience  and  confidence,  he  gives  me  great  relief.  He 
takes  the  brunt  of  the  Monthly,  and  is  helping  vigorously 
on  the  Cyclopaedia,  which  goes  slowly,  but  is  still  moving. 

I  have  recently  taken  up  my  violin  f  for  the  first  time 
in  a  systematic  way.  I  got  a  teacher — a  young  German- 
American — a  trained  and  skilful  player,  who  knows  the 
thing  through  and  through,  and  is  as  stupid  as  a  brute  in 
all  that  pertains  to  teaching.  So  I  have  the  double  absorp- 
tion of  mechanical  practice  and  picking  explanations  out 

f  Mr.  Spencer,  in  his  anxiety  for  his  friend's  health  some  time  previous 
to  this,  had  sought  out  and  presented  to  Mr.  Youmans  an  excellent  old 
English  fiddle,  believed  to  be  the  work  of  the  famous  maker  the  elder 
Foster.  It  did,  indeed,  afford  him  some  diversion,  and  revived  pleasant 
early  associations.  The  instrument  is  greatly  prized  by  a  favourite  nephew, 
to  whom  it  was  bequeathed,  and  who  has  made  considerable  progress  in 
music,  in  accordance  with  his  uncle's  wish. 


344  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

of  the  teacher.  He  takes  pupils,  and  follows  the  business 
of  instruction,  and  is  strong  in  his  blind  and  absurd  rules, 
so  that  I  have  made  good  proficiency  in  his  hands.  Un- 
fortunately, bad  habits  being  worse  than  no  habits,  and  not 
being  very  plastic  myself,  I  get  on  slowly,  but  have  re- 
covered some  of  the  facility  in  execution  which  I  had  thirty 
years  ago,  and  am  making  practice  already  a  source  of 
considerable  amusement.  My  only  difficulty  is  that  I  can- 
not get  the  time  needed. 

Your  papers  have  been  received  with  general  expres- 
sions of  interest  and  commendation,  but  there  have  been 
no  notices  so  full  as  to  be  worth  sending.  Peirce  (of  the 
Logic,  you  know)  was  so  pleased  with  the  article  on 
Trophies  that  he  bought  the  whole  set  of  Descriptive 
Sociologies. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

WINTER   IN   THE   RIVIERA. 

1878-1879.     Age  57-58' 

IT  is  evident  that  by  1878  Mr.  Youmans's  vital 
power  had  been  diminished  far  more  than  I  realized 
at  the  time.  He  was  not  wont  to  complain  or  to  talk 
much  about  his  ailments,  and  that  glorious  vigour  of 
emphasis  which  was  the  outcome  of  his  whole-souled 
enthusiasm  never  flagged.  It  was  difficult  to  asso- 
ciate such  a  voice  and  such  energy  with  anything  short 
of  giant  strength.  I  remember  once  mentioning  to 
Mr.  Spencer  that  I  had  lately  found  Youmans  in  fine 
condition ;  but  when  Spencer,  in  his  next  letter,  reported 
this  to  Youmans  with  congratulations,  our  friend  tersely 
replied,  "  If  Fiske  thought  I  was  well  it  was  because 
he  mistook  noise  for  health." 

It  was  in  the  autumn  of  1878  that  I  first  noticed  in 
that  face,  usually  so  bright  and  beaming,  a  weary  and 
haggard  look  which  gave  me  some  anxiety.  Too 
many  labours  and  cares,  prolonged  with  little  or  no 
respite,  were  doing  their  work.  This  led  Spencer  to 
insist  upon  Youmans  joining  him  in  a  vacation  journey 
in  the  south  of  France.  How  they  fared  will  appear 
in  the  course  of  the  following  correspondence : 

38  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  LONDON,  July  22,  1878. 
MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  I  have  seen  a  good  deal  of  Prof. 
Marsh  while  he  has  been  over  here,  and  had  the  opportunity 

(345) 


346  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

of  showing  him  some  civility  by  asking  him  to  join  a  pic- 
nic at  Weybridge  that  I  gave  this  year  to  some  dozen  or 
more  friends  (as  I  did  also  last  year).  He  seemed  to  en- 
joy it  much,  and  is,  as  I  gather,  enjoying  his  stay  here 
greatly.  He  is  evidently  doing  very  careful  work  in  the 
preparation  of  his  monographs  on  these  fossil  types  and 
promises  to  do  good  service  for  us. 

How  are  you  bearing  the  heat  ?  I  see  from  the  accounts 
that  in  America  people  have  been  suffering  greatly.  You 
ought  to  get  away  to  some  bracing  seaside  place,  and  both 
escape  the  heat  and  take  some  rest,  lolling  about  on  the 
sands  and  cultivating  idleness.  There  is  one  part  of  culture 
which  it  seems  to  me  you  have  not  duly  regarded  and  which 
I  commend  to  you,  namely,  the  culture  of  passive  recep- 
tivity in  respect  of  surrounding  impressions — that  kind  of 
mood  of  mind  which  takes  its  enjoyment  in  lying  on  the 
grass  on  a  sunny  day  looking  up  through  the  trees. 

If  you  happen  to  get  hold  of  a  newly  published  work 
entitled  The  People  of  Turkey,  by  a  Consul's  Daughter, 
you  will  find  in  Volume  II,  pages  200-202,  a  passage  that 
will  interest  you.  It  gives  an  account  of  a  school  estab- 
lished and  carried  on  by  an  intelligent  Greek  who,  educated 
in  Germany,  is  founding  his  system  of  teaching  upon  my 
books ;  and  you  will  find  it  stated  that  his  methods,  having 
proved  successful,  "  will  eventually  be  adopted  in  all  the 
educational  establishments  of  the  Greeks."  It  is  curious 
to  find  that  people  in  Greece,  as  well  as  in  Russia,  both  of 
which  places  we  regard  as  in  so  uncivilized  a  state,  are 
showing  themselves  so  much  more  receptive  than  Western 
people. 

You  do  not  say  anything  about  coming  over  to  the  meet- 
ings of  the  association.  Depend  upon  it,  a  sea  voyage 
would,  as  before,  do  you  a  great  deal  of  good,  and  probably 
be  in  the  end  an  economy  of  time. 


Winter  in  the  Riviera.  347 

38  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  LONDON,  W.,  September  2*] \  1878. 

I  wish  I  could  make  you  more  fully  realize  the  fact  than 
you  generally  do  that  care  for  health  and  the  relaxation 
needed  to  put  yourself  in  better  state  are  really  demanded 
by  regard  for  your  work,  and  that  you  will  in  the  long  run 
be  able  to  do  much  more  in  discharging  your  obligations 
if  you  do  not  persist  in  working  when  ill  than  if  you  do 
persist.  In  fact,  it  seems  to  me  that  now  you  are  running 
considerable  risk  of  failing  altogether  to  do  what  you  have 
undertaken  to  do,  as  well  as  bringing  upon  yourself  other 
evils,  and  that  regard  for  the  interests  of  the  Appletons, 
as  well  as  your  own  interests,  should  make  you  decide  upon 
taking  a  good  holiday.  Pray  come  over  here  as  soon  as 
you  can,  and  after  spending  a  month  with  me  here,  which 
would  give  you  the  opportunity  of  looking  after  various 
matters,  you  might  then  accompany  me  for  a  couple  of 
months  to  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean. 

If  you  could  make  up  your  mind  to  come  with  me  and 
do  a  little  idling  in  pleasant  places,  I  am  convinced  that 
you  would  find  it  in  the  long  run  a  great  economy  of  time. 
As  to  not  seeing  how  such  things  are  possible,  I  hold  it  to 
be  an  instance  of  the  absurd  fanaticisms  of  men  like  your- 
self who  think  that  the  one  thing  impossible  is  to  let  busi- 
ness go  by  default,  and  that  the  only  thing  possible  is  to 
sacrifice  health  and  life  to  it. 

38  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  LONDON,  W.,  October  jo,  1878. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  I  am  looking  forward  with  some 
anxiety  to  the  receipt  of  a  letter  from  you,  which  I  suppose 
cannot  now  be  much  longer  delayed. 

Pray  yield  to  my  pressure,  and  to  the  pressure  which  I 
doubt  not  others  also  put  upon  you.  You  have  always  on 
past  occasions  been  glad  that  you  came  over,  and  if  you 
act  upon  the  induction,  which  you  may  reasonably  do,  you 
may  conclude  that  you  will  afterward  be  glad  if  you  come 


348  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

over  now.  My  going  abroad  will  very  much  be  determined 
by  your  answer.  It  is  quite  out  of  the  question  for  me  to 
go  alone,  for  I  am  convinced,  judging  from  past  experience, 
that  if  I  did  go  I  should  be  in  a  short  time  so  weary  of  my 
solitary  state,  relieved  only  by  my  work  and  walking  about, 
that  I  should  shortly  come  back  again.  With  you,  however, 
it  would  be  different.  I  should  enjoy  the  journey  much, 
and,  I  doubt  not,  derive  great  benefit  from  it. 

You  will  see  that  the  Academy  says  that  I  am  going  to 
Algiers,  but  this  is  a  mistake.  Algiers  has  been  one  of  the 
places  I  have  talked  about  and  which  it  appears  has  been 
remembered  by  the  gossips  who  circulate  and  publish  these 
statements ;  but  I  have  decided  in  favour  of  the  south  of 
France,  moving  along  the  Mediterranean  shore  from  place 
to  place,  from  Marseilles  to  Nice  and  Mentone. 

Pray  come  and  join  me.  For  once  in  your  life  resolve 
to  take  a  little  pleasure  and  relaxation.  You  have  not  so 
very  great  a  length  of  life  left  that  you  can  with  wisdom 
put  it  off.  You  should  remember  that  you  have  not  only 
got  to  do  your  work,  but  you  have  got  to  live ;  and  ever 
since  I  have  known  you  you  have  been  thinking  only  of 
the  work  and  never  of  the  living. 

NEW  YORK,  November  75-,  1878. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  I  have  decided  to  spare  two  months 
to  be  with  you,  and  this  is  also  the  amount  of  time  that  you 
proposed  to  me  to  spend  in  France.  When  I  got  your  last 
letter  I  at  first  thought  I  would  telegraph  you  and  then 
take  the  first  ship ;  but  I  did  not  know  when  you  would  be 
prepared  to  leave,  and  it  might  be  some  time  yet.  If  you 
wish  to  leave  London  before  the  holidays,  telegraph  me  as 
soon  as  this  comes.  In  that  case  I  shall  try  to  take  the 
Germanic,  December  yth. 

I  must,  however,  say  again,  that  I  am  in  a  miserable 
condition  for  such  an  expedition,  and  will  probably  give 
you  as  much  occupation  in  dragging  me  around  as  you 


Winter  in  the  Riviera.  349 

will  want.  It  will  certainly  alleviate  your  monotony,  if 
that  is  the  main  thing.  I  will  try  not  to  bore  you  with  the 
matters  that  are  occupying  my  own  mind,  and  which  I 
shall  hope  to  forward  somewhat  by  this  break  and  cutting 
loose  from  other  things.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  such 
talk  over  here  as  Bob  Lowe  has  given  utterance  to  in  the  last 
Contemporary  about  sociology,  and  it  must  be  met.  More- 
over, it  is  the  coming  subject,  and  an  important  one  to 
prepare  for.  I  have  not  much  more  work  in  me,  but  I 
would  like  to  direct  the  remnant  that  way,  and  shall  want 
to  ask  you  a  lot  of  questions.  Nothing  but  the  desire  to 
be  in  some  way  useful  to  yourself  in  promoting  your  work, 
and  at  the  same  time  of  helping  myself  in  the  way  proposed, 
would  induce  me  to  encounter  another  winter  passage 
across  the  Atlantic.  But  I  will  be  ready  when  I  hear  from 
you. 

NEW  YORK,  December  3,  187 8. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  I  got  your  peremptory  dispatch 
on  Friday,  and  immediately  set  about  making  arrangements 
to  comply  with  it.  No  ship  at  all  encouraging  for  this  sea- 
son was  going  immediately,  and  the  best  I  could  do  was  to 
take  passage  in  the  Germanic  for  Saturday  next  (December 
7th),  which  I  hinted  to  you  in  a  telegram  yesterday. 

The  death  of  Mr.  Lewes  is  announced ;  was  it  not  unex- 
pected ?  I  know  he  has  not  been  in  very  good  health,  but 
I  supposed  he  had  learned  to  take  care  of  himself,  and 
being  not  old,  I  have  been  accustomed  to  think  that  he 
would  be  good  for  another  decade. 

In  her  own  low  condition  of  health,  the  loss  of  her  hus- 
band must  be  very  severely  felt  by  Mrs.  Lewes. 

STEAMSHIP  GERMANIC,  December  16,  1878. 

DEAR  BROTHER  :  .  .  .  Near  Liverpool — nobody  knows 
how  near — supposed  to  be  about  five  miles  off,  at  anchor  in 
a  dense  fog.  Should  have  landed  at  seven  o'clock.  The 
sun  shines  brightly,  and  I  suppose  the  fog  is  perhaps  thirty 


35°  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

or  forty  feet  deep,  but  it  is  as  thick  as  pea  soup,  and  we 
can't  see  ten  feet  from  the  ship.  No  wind  and  no  pros- 
pect of  change.  The  express  we  calculated  on  taking 
leaves  at  eleven.  Everybody  was  up  early,  but  some  have 
gone  back  to  bed,  and  some  to  their  cards,  and  many  are 
profaning  on  deck.  I  telegraphed  Spencer  from  Queens- 
town,  "  Due  Tuesday  afternoon  in  London."  Impossible. 
Vicissitudes  of  travel. 

LONDON,  December  18,  1878. 

DEAR  SISTER  :  I  got  off  at  Liverpool  at  half  past  one  ; 
got  through  the  customhouse  at  ten  minutes  of  two ;  got 
to  Lime  Street  Station  at  two  ;  got  the  train  with  not  a 
second  to  spare,  and  got  into  London  at  half  past  eight,  the 
train  being  an  hour  behind  time.  Spencer  met  me  at  the 
door.  He  is  very  well,  and  was  ready  to  start  on  the  in- 
stant for  the  Continent.  Everything  was  ready,  tickets 
taken  through,  circular  notes  procured,  etc.  .  .  .  We  shall 
be  off  at  nine  to-morrow  morning  by  Dover  and  Calais  to 
Paris,  where  we  spend  one  day,  and  then  take  the  night 
train  for  Marseilles,  and  that  is  all  I  know.  I  expect  it 
will  be  two  months  to  a  day,  and  he  proposes  to  spend 
about  a  week  in  a  place.  Miss  Shickle  is  to  send  his  post 
to  him,  so  in  future  you  will  write  to  me  here,  directing 
37  Queen's  Gardens,  and  no  time  will  be  lost  or  extra  ex- 
pense in  early  sending  through  Layton.  ...  I  shall  be 
put  through  like  anything,  but  I  guess  it  will  do  me  good. 
I  have  no  time  to  write  another  line.  Love  to  all. 

LONDON,  December  20,  2878. 

DEAR  SISTER:  We  started  two  hours  ago  from  37, 
wrapped  and  packed  as  if  we  were  going  to  Greenland.  It 
was  as  dark  as  midnight,  the  gas  being  lit  in  the  streets, 
and  even  then  we  could  hardly  get  round.  I  am  now 
writing  in  the  Charing  Cross  Station,  with  one  gas  burner 
about  seven  feet  above  me,  and  the  room  is  so  dark  the 
people  can  scarcely  be  seen.  We  were  to  take  the  train 


Winter  in  the  Riviera.  351 

for  Folkestone  and  Boulogne  at  10.30.  Got  here,  and 
found  it  leaves  at  1.40.  Spencer  had  erred  a  week  in  his 
consultation  of  the  tables.  He  came  all  the  way  over 
here  to  get  a  revised  table,  and  then  read  it  wrong.  He 
has  a  cold  and  a  little  sore  throat,  and  slept  last  night  with  a 
respirator  on,  by  which  he  breathes  through  a  mass  of  wire 
gauze  like  a  regenerator  in  a  caloric  engine.  He  wears  it 
all  the  time  now.  He  was  awfully  cut  up  about  the  stu- 
pidity of  his  proceeding,  which  will  work  in  my  favour  in 
future.  It  is  quite  providential.  He  was  not  disposed  to 
leave  me  alone  here  for  three  hours,  but  I  just  bullied 
him  to  go  to  the  Athenaeum  Club,  which  is  close  by,  and 
toast  his  shins  by  a  warm  fire,  get  a  good  hot  lunch,  and 
then  come  here  just  in  time  to  leave.  We  get  into  Paris  at 
11.20  P.M.  Bailliere,  Alglave,  and  Ribot  are  to  breakfast 
with  us  to-morrow  morning,  and  Ribot  has  engaged  places 
for  to-morrow  night's  train  for  Marseilles.  1  groped  my 
way  over  to  Macmillan's,  go-t  the  last  number  of  Nature, 
and  a  phrase  book  for  French.  Then  went  to  Williams  & 
Norgate,  and  had  a  good  chat  with  Williams,  who  is  a  very 
nice  man,  and  has  Spencer's  books  in  special  charge.  He 
spoke  very  warmly  about  my  coming,  and  said  it  was  of 
great  moment  to  Spencer,  whose  whole  trouble  is  with  his 
spirits.  I  have  something  very  interesting  to  say  to  you 
about  his  forthcoming  work,  but  must  postpone  it  now. 

HYERES,  FRANCE,  December  24,  1878. 

DEAR  SISTER  :  I  said  I  should  write  a  history  of  our 
tour,  but  it  will  never  be  written,  because  such  experiences 
as  we  have  had  cannot  be  written.  The  Mediterranean 
was  a  priori  to  Spencer,  and  I  hope  all  his  philosophy  is  not 
like  it,  for  results  do  not  accord  with  predictions.  We  had 
a  great  time  getting  here,  our  two  portmanteaus  costing 
us  more  trouble  than  we  could  get  in  America  out  of  the 
movement  of  ten  trunks  to  Winona ;  we  were  chasing  and 
waiting  for  parties  who  could  not  understand  us  at  Bou- 


352  Edivard  Livingston  Youmans. 

logne,  Paris,  Lyons,  Toulon,  and  this  place  (pronounced 
He-air!).  We  have  been  freezing  to  death  all  the  way  from 
London,  but  hoping  constantly  for  the  land  of  warmth,  and 
we  haven't  found  it  yet.  There  are  orange  trees  loaded 
with  uneatable  oranges,  and  there  are  palms,  olives,  and 
numberless  tropical  fruits,  but  it  is  as  cold  as  Greenland 
still ;  it  don't  feel  like  a  tropical  country. 

It  is  a  poor  country  supported  by  English  visitors.  The 
hotel  is  called  "  Le  Grand  Hotel  des  lies  d'Or  "  (Isles  of 
Gold).  That  is,  you  climb  a  hill  behind  through  a  garden, 
and  thence  see  some  islands  of  the  Mediterranean,  which 
are  about  three  miles  off.  So  the  hotel  takes  its  name 
from  the  isles.  .  .  .  We  are  resting,  giving  the  animal  a 
chance.  Spencer  will  let  me  do  nothing  but  walk  and  eat. 
Can't  read  or  write.  Have  to  steal  moments  to  write 
letters,  and  hence  haven't  written  much.  He  is  working 
like  ten  horses  in  quest  of  what  he  came  for — relaxation ! 
So  we  walked  two  hours  this  afternoon  on  the  piazza, 
seventeen  feet  long  and  ten  feet  wide,  passing  each  other 
at  every  turn.  Lord,  how  the  people  stared  !  But  Spencer 
didn't  care,  and  I  am  sure  I  shall  never  see  them  again. 

Friday,  December  2jth. 

The  morning  is  pleasanter ;  it  has  stopped  raining;  and 
now  we  shall  have  to  start  through  the  mud  in  quest  of  the 
"  rest "  we  are  after.  Spencer  is  the  same  and  not  the 
same;  his  qualities  abide,  but  they  grow;  while  not  relax- 
ing a  jot  of  his  theoretic  laissez  faire,  he  is  still  more  irri- 
tably denunciatory  of  people  doing  as  they  can  and  may. 
He  meddles  with  me,  and  interferes  with  me,  and  criticises 
me,  and  takes  care  of  me,  all  for  my  good,  of  course,  in  the 
most  assiduous  manner.  I  am  beginning  to  count  on 
momentary  escape  from  his  vigilance  to  do  a  little  writing 
or  reading. — At  this  point  he  came  for  a  walk,  "  a  slight 
ramble  of  half  an  hour."  It  was  very  wet  and  muddy,  but 
we  rambled  through  the  lanes  and  alleys,  up  and  around 


Winter  in  the  Riviera.  353 

the  side  of  the  mountain  behind  us,  climbing  for  an  hour, 
steady  pull.  Then  he  struck  off  into  an  obscure  path  that 
promised  more  direct  descent.  We  lost  the  path,  and  lost 
our  way,  and  had  to  plunge  down  a  steep,  broken,  rocky, 
muddy  side  of  the  great  hill  full  of  gorges  and  deep  chan- 
nels. It  was  an  old  olive  orchard,  old  and  half  dead;  the 
trees  are  about  the  si?e  of  apple  trees,  and  their  tops  look 
as  if  covered  with  sage  leaves.  We  got  back  after  a  two 
hours'  tramp,  and  I  was  quite  used  up.  Then  we  had 
"breakfast"  at  twelve  o'clock.  Then  another  tramp  of 
twenty  minutes,  at  the  end  of  which  I  back  out.  He  has 
gone  on,  but  will  be  back  for  me  to  get  another  pull  before 
dinner.  This  is  the  history  now,  with  nothing  for  diversion 
but  to  hear  these  Englishmen  quarrel  over  the  comparative 
merits  of  the  different  stopping  places  along  the  coast  and 
the  different  hotels.  There  is  nothing  of  interest  in  it  all 
to  me,  except  so  far  as  it  may  become  promotive  of  hy- 
gienic advantage  to  Spencer  and  myself.  He  professes 
great  benefit  already,  boasting  of  eight  hours'  sleep  the  three 
previous  nights  each,  and  he  falls  asleep  almost  every  time 
he  sits  down.  He  slept  nearly  all  the  time  in  the  cars,  and 
is  evidently  making  up  for  his  past  losses.  If  nothing 
happens,  it  will  undoubtedly  do  him  great  good. 

...  I  promised  to  write  of  his  Morals,  which  is  to  be  a 
great  thing,  of  course,  though  I  have  not  seen  it.  Four 
chapters  are  in  type,  and  all  is  done,  or  mostly  done,  but 
the  last  three  chapters  of  the  Data  of  Ethics.  He  will 
publish  it  in  a  volume  in  April /  I  judge  that  it  is  to  be 
immense,  from  the  titles  of  his  chapters  which  he  has  re- 
hearsed to  me.  He  is  now  revising  the  first  four  chapters, 
but  will  not  let  me  see  them  till  they  are  all  corrected  and 
all  together,  which  it  will  take  two  or  three  weeks  to  bring 
about.  It  will  now  begin  to  be  seen  what  "evolution"  is 
for,  and  I  find  the  main  reason  why  he  has  jumped  over  to 
ethics  is  that  people  had  got  tired  of  waiting  for  some 
16 


354  Edivard  Livingston    You  mans. 

result,  and  the  ethical  writers — mainly  Sidgwick,  of  Cam- 
bridge— have  said,  "  After  all,  morality  is  found  to  have 
nothing  to  do  with  evolution."  /  can  begin  to  see  that  it 
does,  and  how  it  does.  .  .  .  Here  comes  Spencer,  bullying 
me  for  writing,  and  I  tell  him  this  is  the  last  letter  I  will 
write  in  the  next  seven  weeks. 

HYERES,  FRANCE,  December  ji,  1878, 

It  is  the  last  day  of  the  year,  our  last  day  in  this  place. 
We  shall  leave  to-morrow  for  Cannes  fifty  miles  distant, 
and  what  it  will  turn  out  to  be  I  neither  know  nor  care,  so 
we  get  away  from  here.  One  Englishman  said  last  night, 
"  This  is  a  beastly,  stinking  hole,"  which  is  an  accurate 
description  of  the  place.  ...  I  slept  but  little  last  night, 
owing  to  the  mosquitoes,  which  are  abundant,  and  fiercer 
than  at  home.  It  is  still  rainy,  cloudy,  and  muddy,  so  as 
to  make  going  out  a  misery  ;  yet  we  go  out  vigorously  and 
regularly  and  with  long  pulls.  I  hope  in  the  coming  places 
we  shall  have  better  walking,  but  come  what  will,  there  is 
to  be  but  seven  weeks  more  of  it.  And  when  wre  shall 
have  had  a  week's  experience  each  of  seven  more  "beastly, 
stinking  holes,"  I  shall  have  had  enough  of  this  region. 
"  Knowest  thou  the  land  ?  "  Certainly  I  do — all  I  want 
to.  We  go  this  afternoon  three  miles  to  the  seaside  by 
rail,  and  back  on  foot,  to  see  some  Roman  antiquities  !  !  ! 

I  have  packed,  and  it  is  no  small  job  ;  ready  to  move 
to-morrow.  And  we  leave  a  sad  lot  at  the  Hotel  of  the 
Golden  Isles — all  consumptive,  or  attending  upon  some- 
body who  has  consumption.  I  have  not  seen  the  first  case 
of  anybody  who  came  here  for  pleasure  alone.  .  .  .  We 
have  had  our  last  dig  through  the  mud  of  this  miserable 
region,  wandering  here  and  there  in  search  of  a  dryer  place, 
and  always  finding  a  worse  one.  But  I  think  there  is 
virtue  in  the  exertion.  It  seems  to  me  I  am  better  for  it; 
and  Spencer  insists  that  I  am  growing  stronger,  but  he  is 
interested  in  bulling  this  Mediterranean  stock.  Spencer 


Winter  in  the  Riviera.  355 

has  received  no  letters  in  five  days,  and  he  is  greatly 
excited  at  somebody's  derelictions.  I  have  heard  nothing 
yet,  but  suppose  it  is  not  time,  and  there  is  probably  noth- 
ing to  hear.  When  I  get  to  Cannes,  if  the  circumstances 
allow  it,  I  expect  to  begin  work,  in  subordination,  however, 
to  my  picking-up  errand.  Spencer  is  very  well.  This 
agrees  with  him.  He  liltes  to  walk  and  to  talk  and  to 
teach,  and  will  sit  down  in  the  wet  anywhere,  and  at  any 
time,  to  give  an  explanation.  He  is  a  good  teacher,  but  it 
is  iate — the  last  of  1878 — late  to  be  still  taking  lessons. 

CANNES,  FRANCE,  January  2,  1879. 

DEAR  SISTER  :  We  left  Hyeres  New  Year's  morning,  at 
10.45,  for  this  place,  stopping  at  Toulon  an  hour  to  wait 
for  the  Nice  train,  and  got  breakfast  at  12.30  at  a  common, 
cheap  cafe".  It  was  a  new  experience,  and  interesting. 
Everything  was  clean,  and-the  cooking  was  excellent.  The 
provision  was  doubly  abundant.  First,  cold  ham,  bread 
and  butter;  second,  free  wine;  third,  fish;  fourth,  a  chop 
with  beans  (pods);  fifth,  beefsteak  pudding;  sixth,  me- 
ringue ;  seventh,  Roquefort  cheese  and  fruit.  Price,  2 
francs. 

We  got  into  Cannes  a  little  after  four  o'clock  ;  it  had  a 
different  air  from  "  He-air."  It  is  a  rich,  prosperous  water- 
ing place — a  kind  of  Saratoga  on  a  side  hill.  We  passed 
along  the  Mediterranean  coast  some  distance,  shooting 
through  gorges  and  tunnels  as  the  ridges  ran  down  to 
the  water.  The  rocks  are  old  red,  and  the  shore  is  broken, 
indented  with  bluff,  picturesque  rocks. 

Spencer  had  telegraphed  for  rooms  at  the  Hotel  Mont 
Fleury  (Hotel  of  the  Flowery  Mountain).  We  were  the  sole 
passengers  in  its  omnibus.  We  started,  and  went  a  mile 
straight  through  a  narrow  street,  very  narrow,  level,  and 
unattractive.  This  flat  part  of  the  town  is  broken  up  into 
patches  with  chateaus  surrounded  by  trees  and  low  walls. 
People  may  look  in,  but  they  must  be  kept  out.  Then  we 


356  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

began  to  rise,  and  when  we  had  got  up  twenty  feet  there 
was  a  big  hotel  (Congress).  We  went  round  the  end  of  it 
and  up  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  higher,  and  then  round  the 
end  of  another  hotel  (States),  then  round  that,  up  another 
little  hitch,  back  farther  to  the  Hotel  of  the  Flowery 
Mountain.  Altogether  there  is  about  as  much  mountain  as 
Chester  Hill.  As  soon  as  we  had  got  up  Spencer  proposed 
we  should  go  to  the  paste  restante  for  letters ;  so  we  started 
back  on  foot,  and  found  the  mud  worse  than  at  "  He-air." 
It  was  an  awful  pull.  No  letters;  and  when  I  got  back  I 
was  so  used  up  I  could  hardly  get  to  the  room.  Table 
d'hote  at  6.30.  A  small  sally  mangy  for  so  large  a  house, 
which  is  full,  though  there  seems  to  be  nobody  in  it — no 
piazzas,  areas,  parlours,  or  places  of  parade.  We  were 
awfully  jammed  at  table,  and  nearly  suffocated  from  the 
closeness  of  the  room. — At  this  point  Spencer  comes  to 
start  out  back  of  the  house  up  to  whatever  we  may  find, 
...  It  grew  steeper,  and  we  wandered  round  for  an  hour 
up  muddy,  long  roads  and  paths  to  the  summit,  which  gives 
a  fine  view  of  the  town  beneath  and  the  bay,  as  well  as  of 
some  distant  mountains.  The  scenery  is  fine  and  clear,  and 
the  air  mild  and  very  pleasant.  .  .  .  The  place  is  quiet,  and 
both  Spencer  and  myself  slept  well  last  night,  having  mos- 
quito nets  which  were  effectual — the  first  time,  Spencer 
says,  he  ever  slept  under  one. — Back  again  from  another 
pull.  This  time  it  has  been  through  the  town,  but  it  is 
all  the  same.  The  mistral  to-day  has  dried  the  mud,  and 
the  walking  is  better,  but  I  am  utterly  tired  out.  It 
would  seem  as  though  this  would  either  kill  or  cure.  I  am 
abundantly  conscious  of  the  stupidity  of  all  I  have  been 
writing,  but  there  seems  nothing  else  to  say  or  talk  about. 

Spencer  pegs  away  at  his  revising  an  hour  or  two  a  day, 
but  is  greatly  and  continuously  disgusted  at  not  getting 
letters,  having  had  but  one  or  two  in  a  week  from  Eng- 
land. As  anything  written  within  ten  days  after  I  started 


Winter  in  the  Riviera.  357 

would  be  here  by  this  time,  I  conclude  nothing  was  written, 
and  it  is  a  satisfaction  to  think  there  was  no  occasion  for 
it.  Prices  here  are  frightful.  I  told  Spencer  his  frolic 
would  turn  out  expensive.  He  replied,  "  It  would  merely 
make  so  much  less  to  be  left  and  spent  on  the  Descriptive 
Sociology  " — with  which  he  is  evidently  getting  tired. 

CANNES,  FRANCE,  January  7  or  8,  1879. 

We  have  now  been  a  week  in  Cannes,  and  leave  here  to- 
morrow. We  have  had  five  beautiful  days  here  that  have 
been  both  enjoyable  and  profitable.  I  am  undergoing  a 
sharp  discipline ;  and  what  between  a"  revolutionized  diet, 
cessation  of  smoking,  and  triple  my  former  exercise,  I  ought 
to  pick  up. — At  this  point  I  was  meddled  with  by  my  laissez- 
faire  friend,  and  now  resume  at  Nice.  And  it  would  take  a 
big  book  to  tell  it  all.  It  is  now  Wednesday,  and  I  should 
think  must  be  the  loth.  We  started  yesterday  morning 
from  Cannes,  and  got  to  Nice  in  an  hour.  .  .  . 

I  had  a  fire  in  my  room  last  night,  but  could  not  get 
warm  till  toward  morning.  Routed  at  eight  as  usual,  but, 
thank  Goodness !  it  rains  so  hard  we  can't  go  out.  So  we 
have  fires  in  our  respective  rooms,  and  Spencer  has  just  been 
in  to  show  me  how  to  bring  the  table  round  close  to  the 
little  fireplace,  and  then  put  one  side  of  the  rug  in  the 
chair  and  wrap  it  round  my  legs,  so  as  not  to  utterly  freeze 
to  death  before  the  fire. 

I  spoke  to  you  about  Spencer's  new  work,  The  Data  of 
Ethics.  I  have  not  seen  it  yet,  as  the  corrections  of  the 
first  four  chapters  have  not  come.  But  I  have  got  the 
titles  of  the  chapters,  and  now  send  them.  When  they  are 
published  the  question  will  cease  to  be  asked,  "  What  has 
evolution  to  do  with  morality  ? " 

This  is  the  first  systematic,  scientific  treatment  of 
ethics,  and  its  effect  will  be  to  rank  morality  with  the  sci- 
ences, to  give  it  the  intrinsic  authority  of  science,  and  to 
vindicate  evolution  againSt  the  sceptical  cui  bono. 


358  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

NICE,  FRANCE,  January  13,  1879. 

DEAR  FATHER  AND  MOTHER  :  .  .  .  To-day  has  been 
very  fine.  I  had  a  long  walk  in  the  morning,  and  another 
this  afternoon.  Mr.  Spencer  went  off  by  rail  to  Mentone 
to-day  to  reconnoitre  for  a  place,  as  we  propose  not  to 
jump  in  again  so  suddenly.  I  took  advantage  of  his  ab- 
sence to  write  an  editorial,  which  I  mail  to  Jay  to-day.  I 
shall  try  and  squeeze  out  another  in  time  for  the  March 
Monthly.  .  .  . 

MENTONE,  January  27,  iSfq. 

DEAR  SISTER  :  .  .  .  I  have  not  seen  a  paper  from  the 
United  States  these  three  weeks,  and  am  therefore  in  the 
dark  as  to  weather  there — as  well  as  everything  else.  But 
perhaps  it  is  best;  as,  if  there  were  home  news,  I  should 
inevitably  be  reading  it,  and  my  eyes  are  very  bad.  Spen- 
cer doctors  them  often  and  vigorously,  but  the  muscular 
tone  is  low,  and  is  kept  so  low  by  the  depressing  weather 
that  congestion  continues.  If  the  weather  should  clear  up 
I  think  it  would  find  me  better.  I  use  my  eyes  the  least 
possible,  and  read  but  very  little.  Nor  do  I  write  much, 
but  jot  down  various  things.  If  we  could  have  bright,  ex- 
hilarating weather,  I  should  be  able  to  get  some  things  in 
shape  soon  to  use.  Since  Spencer  has  commenced  working 
with  my  eyes  and  begins  really  to  find  out  in  how  bad  a 
state  the  left  eye  is,  he  is  very  vehement  against  my  read- 
ing at  all,  or  even  writing.  He  says :  "  I  never  saw  a  per- 
son subject  to  such  changes  of  aspect;  sometimes  your 
face  looks  coloured  and  healthy,  and  at  other  times  pale, 
flabby,  and  haggard ;  and  from  what  I  can  see  it  is  reading 
that  makes  the  change.  It  is  clear  to  me  that  you  will  have 
to  stop  writing  and  go  to  lecturing." — At  this  point  he 
came,  and  we  had  an  hour  and  a  half  of  digging  through 
the  mud. 

As  for  leaving,  I  am  ready  and  anxious,  but  Spencer  re- 
sists it,  saying  he  is  not  coming  down  here  for  nothing. 


Winter  in  the  Riviera.  359 

We  don't  talk  much  about  it,  but  he  is  determined  to  have 
his  time  out,  and  thinks  it  will  be  best  for  me  to  stick  to  it 
also,  and  I  should  agree  with  him  if  the  weather  were 
favourable  for  improvement. 

I  have  now  quite  given  up  hearing  anything  from  home, 
and  content  myself  with  the  consciousness  that  no  news  is 

good  news. 

MENTONE,  January  jo,  1879. 

MY  DEAR  MOTHER:  It  is  a  magnificent  morning,  but  I 
am  so  tired  from  yesterday's  jaunt  that  I  shall  not  go  out 
with  Spencer  to  tramp  ;  and  although  I  am  writing  but  little, 
and  not  reading  at  all,  I  will  use  the  interval  to  send  you  a 
few  words. 

The  weather  has  changed,  the  clouds  are  gone,  and  now 
everybody  begins  to  cry  out  from  the  heat.  And  at  mid- 
day it  is  tremendous — that  is,  the  sun  has  immense  power, 
and  in  walking  one  sweats  as  if  mowing.  We  went  on  a 
four  hours'  tramp  yesterday  afternoon.  The  first  three 
hours  I  suffered  much  from  the  heat,  but  at  four  o'clock 
the  sun  went  behind  the  clouds,  and  the  temperature 
dropped  instanter,  so  that  the  cold  penetrated  and  chilled 
me  despite  all  efforts  at  brisk  walking,  and  I,  moreover, 
got  a  cold,  which  kept  me  coughing  during  the  night.  We 
have  to  exercise  great  care  here  from  the  extremes  of  the 
weather ;  not  that  they  are  greater  than  at  home,  but  that 
we  are  easier  thrown  off  our  guard.  We  yesterday  clam- 
bered up  a  mountain  to  an  old  village  of  stone  houses,  with 
narrow,  steep  streets,  and  everything  tumbling  down,  so  that 
it  looked  as  if  people  could  not  possibly  stay  in  it.  The 
village  is  probably  fifteen  hundred  years  old,  if  not  more, 
was  built  by  the  Romans,  and  occupied  by  the  Saracens, 
who  ravaged  all  this  coast.  There  are  the  remains  of  an 
old  ruined,  tumble-down  castle,  which  many  people  come 
up  to  visit,  but  it  did  not  interest  me.  The  squalor  and 
wretchedness  of  the  inhabitants,  however,  was  dreadful,  and 
yet  in  the  midst  of  it  there  was  a  Catholic  church  all  gilt 


360  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

and  decked  out  in  great  style.  All  the  ground  hereabout 
is  terraced,  and  in  many  places  the  dirt  is  brought  in  to 
make  rooting  for  vines  and  other  plants.  Water  is  their 
great  trouble ;  it  is  saved  everywhere,  in  stone  tanks 
of  all  sizes,  and  every  little  trickling  rill  is  led  along  a 
stone  water  course  to  where  it  can  be  made  useful  for  irri- 
gation. The  steep  hills  are  all  worked  up  in  this  way ; 
the  necessities  of  a  poor  population  for  probably  thou- 
sands of  years  continually  having  led  to  the  utilization  of 
every  foot.  But  what  I  meant  to  say  to  you  and  pa,  when 
I  sat  down,  was  that  you  must  look  out  for  the  cold  espe- 
cially in  the  mornings,  when  the  pulse  is  lowest.  Be  careful 
of  exposure,  and  take  a  little  stimulus  every  morning  before 
you  get  out  of  bed.  February  and  March  are  trying 
months,  and  people's  brains  are  given  them  to  take  care 

with. 

MENTONE,  Febi  uary  4,  1879. 

DEAR  SISTER  :  Last  night  there  came  four  of  your 
letters  of  December  iQth,  23d,  27th,  and  3ist,  two  later 
ones  having  been  received  three  or  four  days  ago  when  I 
wrote  you  last.  .  .  . 

I  am  getting  up  an  appetite  for  exercise,  and  regret 
that  it  is  raining  to-day,  so  that  I  have  to  keep  indoors. 
Yesterday  morning  we  walked  an  hour  and  a  half,  part  way 
up  hill ;  and  in  the  afternoon  we  took  a  tramp  to  a  mon- 
astery on  a  distant  eminence,  with  a  good  deal  of  steep 
climbing.  It  was  a  two  hours'  pull,  and  I  kept  up  and 
came  out  of  it  not  at  all  used  up.  It  is  my  improvement 
in  this  which  makes  Spencer  think  if  I  would  follow  his 
directions  in  all  things  implicitly  I  would  be  born  again. 
.  .  .  Spencer  will  not  budge  from  here  till  the  time  is  up, 
and  gets  angry  if  I  propose  going  before.  He  also  insists 
that  I  should  stop  a  month  in  London,  and  have  not  less 
than  a  three  months'  break.  Hearing  nothing,  and  not 
being  stirred  up  with  home  difficulties,  I  have  been  in- 
clined to  listen  to  his  syren  song,  and  hurry  nothing.  But 


Winter  in  the  Riviera.  361 

your  letter  dissipates  the  illusion,  and  I  must  get  back  to 
work  as  promptly  as  possible.  What  a  year  of  continuous 
outdoor  life  and  activity,  and  total,  abstinence  from  books, 
might  do  for  my  eyes  I  can't  say  ;  it  would  no  doubt  im- 

prove them,  at  any  rate. 

LONDON,  March  /,  1879. 

DEAR  BROTHER  :  I  wrote  and  sent  out  to  be  posted  for 
Thursday's  mail  an  editorial  to  go  first  in  the  April 
Monthly.  I  now  send  a  review  of  Bain's  new  book. 

You  will  thus  eke  out  another  month.  I  have  not 
heard  whether  the  Germanic  has  arrived,  but  presume  she 
has,  and  that  she  will  go  Thursday,  and  at  all  events  I  ex- 
pect to  leave  here  Wednesday  afternoon  for  Liverpool. 
The  weather  continues  simply  detestable,  and  I  have  been 
feeling  very  sharply  the  effects  of  it  ;  but  it  is  a  little 
better  to-day,  and  I  feel  it  decidedly.  I  have  been  bothered 
to  snatch  intervals  to  get  these  things  done,  for  Spencer 
watches  me  constantly  and  will  listen  to  nothing.  He  does 
not  know  that  I  have  written  anything  for  the  Monthly. 


STEAMER  GERMANIC,  March  7, 
MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  I  had  a  pleasant  ride  to  Liverpool 
on  time,  with  a  lively,  fresh  companion,  a  Methodist,  who 
vigorously  undertook  my  conversion.  He  began  thus:  "If 
we  smash  up,  sir,  are  you  insured  —  I  don't  mean  in  the 
accident  company,  but  in  the  Grand  Salvation  Insurance 
Company  ?  No  ?  Then  I  have  the  advantage  of  you  ;  I 
took  out  a  policy  twenty  years  ago."  I  told  him  there  was 
a  great  deal  of  bogus  insurance  nowadays,  and  gave  him 
the  history  of  my  father's  experience  in  being  swindled  by 
a  fraudulent  fire  insurance  company,  and  then  put  it  to 
him  as  a  necessary  business  precaution  that  the  validity  of 
the  corporation  and  the  soundness  of  the  transaction 
should  be  looked  into.  Being  a  business  man  he  saw  the 
point,  and  I  had  a  great  deal  of  fun  with  him. 


362  Edward  Livingston  Yonmans. 

NEW  YORK,  March  18,  1879. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  I  am  back  again  safe,  sound,  and 
satisfied.  My  return  was  even  finer  than  my  passage  over, 
the  sea  being  like  a  lake  the  whole  distance. 

I  find  all  well  here  and  enjoying  the  opening  of  the 
spring.  The  sky  is  clear  and  the  sun  bright,  although  it  is 
still  cold.  My  brother  has  improved  a  great  deal  as  a  con- 
sequence of  taking  responsibility,  and  I  mean  he  shall  get 
still  further  benefit  from  it.  I  found  the  Appletons  in  a 
very  pleasant  mood,  but  have  not  yet  had  time  to  broach 
business.  There  are  many  things  to  attend  to,  some  of 
which  have  been  neglected. 

NEW  YORK,  June  j,  1879. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  To-day  rounds  me  up  to  fifty- 
eight,  and  I  am  making  a  holiday  of  it,  which  gives  quite  a 
new  sensation.  It  amounts  to  little  practically,  as  I  am 
good  for  nothing  to  work  anyway,  being  again  crippled, 
confined,  and  suffering  a  good  deal  of  pain  by  a  rheumatic 
relapse  of  my  right  foot.  I  had  been  better  for  some  days 
so  that  I  could  get  about  comfortably,  though  unable  to 
wear  an  ordinary  shoe. 

The  Chicago  Times  printed  my  reply  to  Van  Buren 
Denslow  and  I  sent  you  a  copy. 

You  are  of  course  aware  before  this  of  the  "  strike " 
Fiske  has  made  with  his  new  lectures  in  Boston,  and  which 
has  led  to  a  repetition  in  London.  If  he  succeeds  there  it 
will  be  a  great  card  for  him. 

38  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYS  WATER,  W.,  June  20, 1879. 
MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  That  was  a  capital  letter  of  yours 
in  the  Chicago  paper.  The  points  were  all  admirably 
grasped  and  clearly  put.  A  better  expositor  I  cannot  im- 
agine. It  is  clear  to  me  from  this  letter,  and  from  all  the 
various  things  you  have  from  time  to  time  written,  that  the 
lectures  you  have  been  scheming  would  be  admirably 


Winter  in  the  Riviera.  363 

adapted  to  convey  general  conceptions  of  the  doctrine  of 
evolution  to  the  public  mind  ;  and  further,  that  besides  put- 
ting them  so  clearly  and  simply  you  would  make  them  ex- 
tremely interesting.  It  seems  to  me  that  you  cannot  do  a 
better  thing  than  carry  out  your  plans  in  that  direction, 
and,  at  any  rate  for  a  time,  drop  other  matters.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  the  better  mood  of  mind  that  would  arise,  alike 
from  the  different  mode  of  life  as  well  as  from  the  successes 
that  I  doubt  not  would  result,  would  more  than  anything 
else  conduce  to  your  improved  health. 

Now  that  I  am  not  with  you  and  cannot  play  the  bully 
over  you  daily,  I  see  you  are  relapsing  into  your  old  mal- 
practices. So  far  from  abiding  by  the  principle  of  doing  all 
your  writing  by  dictation,  you  seem  to  me  to  be  going  more 
in  the  opposite  direction,  for  the  last  three  letters  I  have 
had  from  you  have  been  in  your  own  hand.  However,  it  is 
no  use  saying  anything. 

LONDON,  July  4,  1879. 

Fiske's  lectures  at  University  College  ended  satisfac- 
torily, and  were  greatly  applauded  at  the  close.  He  and 
Holt  and  I  have  had  two  country  excursions,  one  to  Rich- 
mond and  one  to  Windsor. 

October  /,  /(?/<?. 

I  am  glad  to  find  you  writing  in  a  more  cheerful  style, 
and  hope  that  your  more  sanguine  view  of  your  state  will 
be  borne  out  by  the  results.  I  was  glad  to  see  in  the  last 
number  of  the  Monthly  that  you  are  notifying  publicly 
your  intention  of  resuming  lecturing.  In  a  certain  measure 
it  commits  you,  and  will  serve  to  decide  you  in  favour  of 
that  course  when  otherwise  you  might  hesitate. 

I  do  not  see  why  you  should  have  grown  "  morbidly 
timorous  about  speaking  of  your  [my]  views?"  So  far  as 
I  remember,  you  have  always  been  perfectly  correct  in  your 
statements,  and  extremely  lucid.  Even  when  it  has  been  a 
mathematical  question  you  have  done  extremely  well. 


364  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

April  iq,  1880. 

I  got  this  morning  the  two  copies  of  the  New  York 
Times,  and  read  with  amusement  and  satisfaction  the  ac- 
count of  the  row  at  Yale  College  that  has  been  produced 
by  the  introduction  of  the  Study  of  Sociology  as  a  text- 
book. Very  probably  this  local  fight  will  set  going  a  gen- 
eral fight,  which  will  be  highly  advantageous  no  doubt. 

NEW  YORK,  May  n,  1880. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  Your  suggestions  regarding  the 
Yale  College  affair  come  in  the  nick  of  time.  I  had  an 
editorial  in  type  on  the  subject  which  was  not  very  satis- 
factory, and  your  hints  enabled  me  to  improve  it.  The 
Yale  College  flurry  is  over,  so  far  as  exciting  public  criticism 
is  concerned,  but  the  antagonism  is  deep,  and  will  quietly 
deepen  still  more. 

I  am  getting  sensibly  stronger  and  feeling  better,  but  I 
am  old,  sore,  and  decrepit  in  my  legs  and  feet.  I  walk, 
however,  considerably  and  increasingly,  and  hope  to  gain 
permanently  by  it.  But  I  suspect  an  early  old  age  is  upon 
me,  and  that  I  must  go  tottering  through  my  remnant  of 
days. 

I  am  rejoiced  to  hear  that  you  are  not  only  holding  out 
well  but  are  advancing,  so  that  you  can  again  take  hold. 
Don't  you  think  you  can  take  your  vacation  next  year  on 
the  Rocky  Mountains  ?  I  want  to  cross  the  continent  very 
much,  but  hate  to  go  alone.  Meditate  upon  it.  Our  claim 
is  at  least  as  good  as  that  of  Egypt. 

38  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  LONDON,  May  26,  1880. 
MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  I  was  glad  to  have  so  good  an 
account  of  you  in  point  of  health.  By  all  means  keep  up 
your  exercise.  If  you  can  do  that,  and  increase  it  little  by 
little,  I  should  think  you  will  gradually  get  rid  of  the  rem- 
nant of  mischief  arising  from  your  rheumatic  affection. 


Winter  in  the  Riviera.  365 

If,  as  I  suppose,  there  are  deposits  and  stiffenings,  these, 
providing  you  do  not  again  bring  on  an  attack,  will  in 
course  of  time,  under  fit  regimen,  decrease  gradually.  Are 
you  thinking  of  making  any  lecturing  excursion  ?  If  you 
could  do  it  with  moderation,  and  make  everything  subor- 
dinate itself  to  your  physical  requirements,  it  might  prove 
beneficial  in  all  respects;  for  a  little  excitement  of  that 
kind,  being,  I  have  no  doubt,  to  you  pleasurable,  would 
benefit  your  physical  state. 

Fiske  and  his  wife  are  coming  to  lunch  with  me  to-day, 
and  I  have  asked  Masson  to  meet  them.  Fiske  has  given 
two  lectures  at  the  Royal  Institution,  but  I  have  not  heard 
either.  I  was  out  of  town  when  the  first  was  delivered, 
and  yesterday,  when  the  second  was  delivered,  my  attend- 
ance at  an  Athenaeum  committee  was  imperative.  Huxley 
spoke  with  praise  of  the  first  lecture. 

As  to  coming  over  to  you,  I  have  so  much  to  do,  and 
the  three  months'  absence  in  Egypt  during  the  winter  has 
retarded  me  so  much,  that  I  cannot  think  of  it  at  present. 
I  must  (after  sundry  smaller  matters  are  got  out  of  hand) 
continue  the  Political  Institutions  and  complete  and  publish 
the  part  before  I  think  of  anything  in  the  shape  of  a  long 
holiday. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

LAST  YEARS. 
December,  1880,  to  January,  1887.     Age,  59-65. 

DURING  the  years  1880  and  1881  Mr.  You  mans 
was  working  with  customary  vigour  in  behalf  of  inter- 
national copyright.  Questions  connected  with  this 
subject  grew  out  of  his  work  in  Europe  ten  years  be- 
fore, in  establishing  the  International  Scientific  Series. 
In  1871  Mr.  W.  H.  Appleton  had  taken  a  decided 
stand  in  favour  of  international  copyright,  and  was 
powerfully  supported  and  re-enforced  by  Youmans, 
who  returned  to  the  subject  again  and  again,  and  did 
excellent  service  in  arousing  and  instructing  public 
opinion. 

A  letter  from  Tyndall  shows  that  before  the  end 
of  1880  the  question  of  Youmans's  health  was  becom- 
ing serious : 

LONDON,  December  29,  1880. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  We  this  day  laid  the  remains  of 
George  Eliot  in  the  Highgate  Cemetery,  and  this  morning, 
while  I  was  preparing  to  join  the  band  of  mourners,  your 
letter  reached  me.  A  large  and  reverent  crowd  surrounded 
the  grave  as  the  coffin,  loaded  with  garlands,  was  let  down 
into  it. 

Last  night,  at  Kew,  I  had  a  long  conversation  with  Asa 
Gray  regarding  the  trust,  and  he,  I  confess,  dissipated  a 
good  deal  of  the  fear  that  I  entertained  as  regards  the 
trouble  imposed  upon  the  trustees.  Your  letter  this  morn- 

(366) 


Last   Years.  367 

ing  comes  in  the  nick  of  time  to  confirm  my  desire  to  leave 
the  trust  in  the  form  originally  contemplated.  The  ar- 
rangement you  have  made  is  in  the  highest  degree  satis- 
factory. 

We  did,  as  you  surmise,  return  from  the  Alps  strong 
and  well.  I  am  glad  that  you  liked  the  address  upon  the 
Sabbath,  but  I  did  not  know  that  you  would  consider  it 
suitable  for  the  pages  of  The  Popular  Science  Monthly.  It 
is  a  pleasure  to  me  to  see  it  there,  and  a  still  greater 
pleasure  to  learn  that  it  is  likely  to  produce  a  good  effect. 
Longman  has  published  it  as  a  separate  pamphlet.  An 
audience  of  three  thousand  heard  its  delivery  with  marked 
attention,  and,  I  think  I  might  add,  with  enthusiasm. 

A  long  letter  written  with  your  own  hand  reached  me 
in  Switzerland.  One  expression  in  it  gave  me  very  deep 
concern,  and  that  was  where  you  referred  to  .the  state  of 
your  own  health.  I  trust  it  is  now  better,  and  that  for  a 
long  time  to  come  you  will  be  able  to  continue  the  good 
work  on  which  you  have  been  hitherto  engaged. 

Believe  me,  dear  Youmans,  yours  ever  faithfully, 

JOHN  TYNDALL. 

In  February,  1881,  in  the  midst  of  hard  work,  there 
came  the  sudden  blow  which  after  a  while  was  to  be 
attended  with  fatal  results  : 

NEW  YORK,  April  20,  1881. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  It  was  ten  weeks  ago  day  before 
yesterday  that  I  was  struck  with  a  chill,  the  result  of  writing 
in  a  cold  room,  and  came  down  with  pneumonia.  I  was 
prostrated  bodily  and  mentally  from  the  outset.  I  grew 
better,  but  the  stupid  nurse  washed  me  with  cold  water, 
which  brought  on  a  relapse  with  pleurisy.  I  got  better 
again  and  became  very  smart,  so  that  the  doctor  began  to 
omit  his  visits.  I  was  too  weak  and  emaciated  to  walk  or 
stand,  but  I  could  sit  up  for  considerable  intervals;  but  my 


368  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

brother,  coming  down  from  the  West,  dropped  in,  and  in  the 
excitement  I  became  exhausted. 

The  pleuro-pneumonia  came  on  again  in  an  exaggerated 
form,  and  I  had  a  hard  time  with  it.  I  am  again  much  bet- 
ter, but  the  left  lung  is  in  a  bad  way,  and,  I  fear,  threatens 
long  to  remain  so  ;  but  I  am  free  of  pain,  have  a  good  ap- 
petite, am  gaining  strength,  and  begin  to  walk  around  the 
room,  though  with  a  very  tottering  step.  I  was  terribly 
reduced,  the  first  month  living  chiefly  upon  brandy.  But 
I  am  still  forbidden  to  sit  up  more  than  half  an  hour  at  a 
time,  or  to  leave  the  room,  or  to  see  anybody,  or  to  talk 
much,  or  do  anything.  But  I  am  hoping  that  with  this 
abundant  experience  of  the  ease  of  relapse  I  may  be  able 
to  guard  myself  better,  and  hope  to  get  out  of  this  tire- 
some place  before  long.  Yet  the  one  mitigating  thing  is 
that  the  weather  for  the  last  three  months  has  been  terrible, 
and  is  still  sour  cold.  Of  course,  in  a  business  way,  the 
last  three  months  have  been  a  blank. 

May  6,  1881. 

I  am  only  now  beginning  to  understand  how  fast  and 
how  far  I  went  down  during  the  first  month  of  my  sickness. 
The  recovery  is  very  slow  and  tedious.  I  can  mark  a  cer- 
tain small  improvement  with  each  passing  week,  but  I  fear 
it  will  be  a  good  while  yet  before  I  can  get  out  of  the  house. 
I  am,  however,  free  from  pain,  have  strength  to  sit  up  most 
of  the  time,  and  to  walk  about  some,  though  it  seems, 
whenever  I  rise,  that  I  weigh  a  ton.  I  am  able  to  read 
considerably  and  to  write  some,  and  this  makes  life  com- 
fortable. I  have  just  helped  Jay  through  his  July  Monthly, 
and  have  quite  enjoyed  it.  I  received  the  proof  of  your 
forthcoming  article,  and  Jay  wanted  me  to  write  something 
about  it;  but  it  is  too  long  and  close  for  me  to  deal  with  it 
now,  with  but  five  hours  allowed  to  do  it.  When  I  get  a 
little  stronger  I  am  going  over  the  whole  series  carefully, 
that  I  may  be  qualified  to  say  something  about  it.  I  re- 


Last   Years.  369 

ceived  and  read  with  much  interest  the  letters  on  copy- 
right. Thanks ;  they  will  come  in  play,  but  I  think  it 
would  hardly  be  best  to  republish  them  now.  I  am  sur- 
prised at  the  stupid  perversity  that  some  of  your  people 
display.  It  is  as  bad  as  our  open  and  shameless  greed. 

37  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  May  20,  1881. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  I  am  glad  to  get  your  letter 
giving  me  an  account  of  your  continued  improvement, 
however  slow.  I  was  going  to  say  that  I  hoped  this  seri- 
ous illness  will  be  a  warning  to  you  :  always  of  two  things  to 
choose  the  less  dangerous,  and  not  the  more  dangerous; 
but  I  fear  that  all  suggestions  of  the  kind  will  be  futile,  for 
it  is  not  in  you  to  be  careful. 

I  am  glad,  however,  you  resisted  your  brother's  sug- 
gestion to  write  some  comment  upon  the  last  chapter  sent. 
He  ought  to  know  better  than  suggest  to  you  to  do  any- 
thing in  the  way  of  work.  What  you  want  is  some  one  to 
suggest  the  leaving  it  undone. 

NEW  YORK,  May  27    1881. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  As  regards  myself,  I  am  only  able 
to  say  that,  not  being  worse,  I  must  be  better  than  when  I 
last  wrote.  My  shortness  of  breath  and  debility  continue, 
which  makes  the  getting  about  painful,  especially  if  there 
is  a  staircase  to  be  climbed.  I,  however,  go  out,  and  have 
been  to  Mount  Vernon.  The  jaunt  was  exhausting,  but  I 
hope  it  will  prove  beneficial.  While  in  the  country  my 
brother  gave  me  some  letters  which  came  during  my  illness, 
when  I  was  not  in  a  condition  to  be  disturbed  by  business. 

In  one  of  those  letters  you  explain  that  your  coming 
chapters  will  deal  with  the  subject  of  the  Militant  and  In- 
dustrial Types  of  Government.  I  consider  that  the  most 
interesting  and  the  most  important  part  of  your  series  of 
papers  ;  we  cannot  get  enough  of  this  kind  of  discussion 
for  our  magazine.  There  is  no  salvation  for  this  continent 
except  in  the  acquirement  of  some  proximately  scientific 


37°  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

conception  of  the  nature  of  Government.  We  are  without 
the  stability  that  comes  from  long  habit,*  and  without  any 
guidance  in  the  shape  of  national  theory.  I  am  so  clear 
that  this  is  the  next  subject  of  supreme  public  moment  that 
I  am  glad  to  devote  the  Monthly  largely  to  its  elucidation. 

37  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  June  13,  1881. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  I  got  your  last  letter  some  three 
or  four  days  ago,  and  regret  to  hear  that  you  are  not 
gaining  strength  more  rapidly  than  appears.  However,  if 
you  are  avoiding  relapses,  that  is  something;  and  now  that 
you  have,  I  suppose,  favourable  weather,  we  will  hope  the 
progress  will  be  more  rapid.  You  ought  to  stay  down  in 
the  country  and  bask  in  the  sun  ;  or,  if  too  hot,  then  in  the 
shade  of  a  tree.  Lounging  about  in  the  open  air,  doing 
nothing  except,  if  you  can,  carrying  on  a  lively  conversa- 
tion, is  the  best  thing  for  you. 

*  If  my  old  friend  were  now  here  at  my  elbow,  he  would  not  merely 
pardon  but  would  earnestly  thank  me  for  pointing  out  the  fallacy  in  this 
offhand  remark.  It  is  one  of  those  common  fallacies  into  which  every 
thinker  and  writer  is  liable  to  be  betrayed,  and  no  one  would  have  ac- 
knowledged it  more  quickly  than  Youmans.  It  arises  from  the  prevalent 
loose  fashion  of  regarding  American  history  as  beginning  with  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  or  at  farthest  with  the  settlement  of  Jamestown. 
The  fallacy  is  that  a  "  new  people  "  cannot  have  old  political  habits.  In 
point  of  fact,  however,  we  Americans  are  not  a  new  people,  and  we  are 
not  "  without  the  stability  that  comes  from  long  habit."  We  possess  this 
stability  in  an  extremely  high  degree,  and  it  is  just  this  ingrained  stability 
of  political  character,  the  result  of  long  ages  of  political  habit,  that  is  our 
chief  safeguard  against  turbulence.  What  were  our  forefathers  doing  at 
Lewes  and  Runnymede,  or  in  the  days  of  Henry  II  and  Becket  ?  What 
were  they  doing  in  their  open-air  assemblies  in  Friesland  and  Sleswick  be- 
fore Hengist's  keels  ploughed  the  North  Sea?  They  were  slowly  and 
surely  building  up  that  stability  of  political  habit  by  which  we,  their  chil- 
dren, have  profited  in  many  a  crisis  within  the  memory  of  living  men. 
Properly  to  understand  the  American  people  and  their  political  acts,  one 
must  habitually  carry  in  mind  the  whole  series  of  ages  between  Arminius 
and  Cromwell. 


Last   Years.  371 

I  am  glad  to  see  that  you  take  the  same  view  as  I  do 
with  respect  to  the  supreme  importance  of  true  political 
theory,  especially  for  you  in  the  United  States.  I  do  not 
believe  that  a  true  theory  will  do  much  good,  but  one  may 
at  any  rate  say,  contrariwise,  that  an  untrue  one  does  a 
great  deal  of  harm;  and  at  present  much  mischief  is  going 
on  among  you  as  a  result  of  untrue  theories. 

I  find  myself  not  adequately  acquainted  with  the  state 
of  things  in  America  in  respect  of  some  of  the  traits  of  in- 
dustrialism on  which  I  am  commenting.  When  you  get  the 
chapter  you  will  probably  be  able  either  to  give  me  in- 
formation bearing  on  sundry  other  points,  or  to  indicate 
some  recent  books  in  which  I  shall  get  information,  so  that 
by  the  time  the  volume  goes  to  press  I  shall  be  prepared 
for  making  the  chapter  more  complete.  I  presume,  from 
your  wishing  to  have  the  series  continued,  that  it  excites 
with  you  some  interest,  but  you  have  not  told  me  anything 
about  this. 

After  my  experience  last  year  in  going  to  and  from 
Alexandria,  on  each  of  which  occasions  I  had  a  three  days' 
voyage,  my  fears  of  sea  travelling  in  respect  of  entailed 
sleeplessness  are  somewhat  diminished,  and  consequently  I 
have  of  late  been  entertaining  the  thought  that  I  may  pos- 
sibly come  over  to  see  you.  If  so,  it  will  be,  I  think,  in  the 
latter  half  of  next  year.  At  present  I  say  this  to  yourself 
only,  not  having  come  to  any  positive  decision. 

MOUNT  VERNON,  N.  Y.,  July  8,  1881. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  I  believe  I  wrote  you  that  I  was 
going  to  try  Saratoga.  I  did  so  for  a  week,  and  although 
it  was  a  tedious  job  yet  I  gained  something  by  it.  I 
endured  the  exposure  without  injury. 

The  bronchitis  is  disappearing,  but  the  soreness  and 
strain  from  extensive  pleural  adhesion  continue.  I  can 
now  be  so  much  out  that  I  expect  more  marked  improve- 
ment. I  have  yours  of  June  i3th.  Thanks  for  the  important 


372  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

hints  on  lounging,  which  I  will  try  to  follow.  In  regard  to 
the  reception  of  the  articles  on  Political  Institutions,  it  has 
of  course  been  far  from  what  we  could  wish,  but  has  been 
much  as  we  might  have  expected.  I  am  not  aware  that 
they  have  elicited  intelligent  discussion  or  criticism  in  any 
quarter.  They  have  been  noticed,  with  other  articles  by 
the  newspapers — that  is,  simply  referred  to  and  generally 
with  undiscriminating  praise. 

There  have  been  a  few  bursts  of  impatience,  and  one 
unhappy  man  in  Pennsylvania  wrote  as  follows  :  u  I  sent 
you  five  dollars  for  the  Monthly  some  months  ago ;  either 
stop  those  stupid  articles  of  Spencer  or  stop  my  subscrip- 
tion." This  afforded  me  exactly  the  opportunity  I  wanted 
for  a  discussion,  but  I  had  not  strength  for  it.  I  have, 
however,  been  perfectly  satisfied  to  go  on  with  the  series, 
because  I  know  the  papers  are  extensively  read.  They 
come  before  the  public  in  a  form  that  cannot  fail  to  secure 
some  attention,  and  there  are  many  men  to  whom  it  is  im- 
portant that  they  should  be  furnished.  Our  circulation  is 
not  large,  but  the  magazine  is  much  read.  It  is  the  most 
worn  of  all  in  the  clubs  and  libraries.  If  we  depended  upon 
what  the  press  says  of  the  Monthly  we  should  stop  it  to- 
morrow. It  gets  the  least  critical  attention  of  all  the 
magazines.  There  is  the  same  commendatory  mention  of 
it  every  month  where  it  is  referred  to  at  all.  But  there  is  a 
sort  of  dread  of  it,  partly  from  incapacity  to  understand  it, 
partly  from  religious  prejudice,  and  very  much  because  of 
its  contrast  to  the  light  and  lively  journals  that  cater  so 
skilfully  to  popular  ignorance.  I  think  our  patronage  is 
quite  independent  of  anything  the  papers  may  or  may  not 
say.  ... 

I  think  we  could  run  the  Monthly  solely  on  the  contri- 
butions that  are  sent  us  pro  and  con  in  relation  to  your 
ideas  and  works. 

So   I   am    delighted    that   your   experiences   at    length 


Last   Years.  373 

make  it  possible  to  entertain  the  idea  of  coming  to  the 
United  States.  There  will  be  much  to  interest  you,  and  it 
is  on  every  account  desirable  that  you  should  pay  this 
country  a  visit,  if  possible.  Our  fifty  million  people  will 
soon  be  a  hundred  million,  and  they  are  developing  a  con- 
tinent at  a  rate  which  must  be  seen  to  be  understood.  We 
are  loose  and  getting  wild  on  social  matters,  and  the  car- 
penter theory  of  government  is  predominant.  Whatever 
the  result  may  be,  the  experiment  is  a  grand  one,  and  you 
should  not  let  it  pass  without  some  careful  scrutiny.  I 
hope  that  the  project  will  look  increasingly  feasible,  and  as 
soon  as  it  is  fairly  settled  in  your  mind  I  wish  you  would 

let  me  know. 

NEW  YORK,  August 30,  1881. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  The  last  installment  on  Industrialism 
has  come.  That  and  the  preceding  are  two  mighty  chapters. 
.  .  .  I  am  latterly  much  better  and  more  in  the  spirit  of 
work.  I  hardly  mind  a  single  pair  of  stairs,  but  a  second 
pair  leaves  me  exhausted.  I  have  still  a  good  deal  of  sore- 
ness connected  with  the  lung  constriction,  but  I  think  it  is 
gradually  diminishing,  and  I  hope  that  some  tolerable  sound- 
ness may  be  regained  before  cold  weather  is  again  upon  us. 
My  "goings  from  town"  have  hitherto  been  "jobs."  I 
hope  to  go  to  Saratoga  for  a  week  or  two  in  September  to 
enjoy  it.  I  suppose  you  will  be  back  in  London  by  the 
time  this  gets  there,  and  I  trust  you  will  return  with  the 
full  benefit  of  your  vacation.  There  are  great  fishing 
places  on  this  continent  in  Canada  and  elsewhere,  and  I 
think  you  had  better  plan  to  give  next  August  to  the  sport 
on  this  side. 

38  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  W.,  September  21,  1881. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  I  arrived  back  in  town  the  night 
before  last,  and  found  your  letter  waiting  for  me.  I  am 
glad  to  hear  that  you  are  gaining  strength,  not  so  glad  to 
hear  that  you  are  "more  in  the  spirit  of  work."  If  instead 
of  this  you  would  write.  "  more  in.  the  spirit  of  p.lay,""  it 


374  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

would  be  very  much  better.  The  worst  of  you  is,  the 
moment  you  get  a  little  extra  strength  you  use  it  up  too 
fast.  Pray  take  a  good  long  holiday  instead  of  your  short 
ones.  As  I  have  often  urged  upon  you,  it  is  an  economy 
of  time  in  the  end. 

I  am  rather  amused  at  your  proposing  to  tempt  me 
over  early  in  August  by  Canadian  salmon  fishing.  The 
suggestion  has  its  temptations,  but  I  have  a  strong  im- 
pression as  to  the  terrible  infliction  of  mosquitoes  and  other 
kinds  of  flies,  of  which  I  am  rather  intolerant,  and  of  which 
I  remember  reading  as  entailing  great  irritation  on  those 
who  are  led  to  Canada  by  the  prospect  of  sport.  I  like  to 
take  my  pleasure  neat.  If  the  drawbacks  are  considerable 
I  would  rather  not  have  it  at  all.  My  present  intention  is 
rather  to  postpone  until  the  last  ten  days  of  August  my 
voyage,  so  as  to  arrive  in  New  York  about  the  end  of  the 
month.  My  friend  Potter,  with  whom  I  have  just  been 
staying,  and  with  whom  I  consulted,  has  been  many  times 
over  with  you,  and  he  recommends  me  to  go  forthwith  to 
the  North  and  to  spend  the  first  week  or  ten  days  in  seeing 
Niagara  and  something  of  Canada,  so  as  to  avoid  the  heat, 
which  is  still  considerable  in  the  early  part  of  September. 

You  say  respecting  your  lungs  that  you  ''hope  some 
tolerable  soundness  may  be  regained  before  the  cold 
weather  is  upon  us."  By  all  means  do  not  simply  hope,  but 
take  the  most  strenuous  measures  for  insuring  this  result. 

I  am  glad  that  you  like  the  two  chapters  on  The 
Militant  Type  and  The  Industrial  Type.  They  are,  in  fact, 
the  culminating  chapters  of  the  part,  and,  indeed,  of  the 
whole  work,  in  point  of  importance. 

The  next  extract  which  I  take  from  Spencer,  re- 
plying to  a  letter  from  Youmans  giving  an  account  of 
the  progress  of  the  agitation  for  international  copy- 
right, is  full  of  profound  wisdom : 


Last   Years.  375 

I  wish  your  American  public  could  be  made  to  feel  the 
utter  viciousness  of  the  plea  commonly  put  in  in  defence 
of  your  piratical  system — that  it  is  essential  for  your  insti- 
tutions that  the  people  should  have  access  to  knowledge, 
unrestrained  by  regard  for  the  author's  claims.  The  truth 
which,  instead  of  this,  should  be  impressed  upon  them,  but 
which  I  fear  nothing  will  make  them  recognize,  is,  that  free 
institutions  can  exist  and  work  well  only  in  virtue  of  an  all- 
pervading  equity.  The  coercive  form  of  government,  itself 
implying  an  over-riding  of  men's  rights,  is  capable  of  main- 
taining a  tolerably  stable  social  state  among  citizens  whose 
regard  for  one  another's  rights  is  comparatively  small  : 
force  does  what  conscience  fails  to  do.  But  in  proportion 
as  a  government  becomes  non-coercive,  and  is  the  concom- 
itant of  a  social  system  based  upon  contract,  and  the 
working  together  under  voluntary  co-operation,  things  can 
go  well  only  in  proportion  as  citizens  have  such  natures  as 
prompt  them  to  respect  one  another's  claims.  Already  the 
well  working  of  your  institutions  is  perturbed  in  all  kinds  of 
ways  by  dishonesty.  Any  increase  of  dishonesty  will  even- 
tually in  some  way  or  other  cause  their  collapse ;  their  only 
salvation  is  increase  of  honesty.  Hence,  so  far  from  its  be- 
ing needful,  as  your  people  allege,  that  the  necessity  is 
diffusion  of  knowledge  at  the  expense  even  of  honesty,  it 
is,  contrariwise,  needful  that  there  should  be  a  diffusion  of 
honesty  even  should  there  be  some  consequent  impediment 
to  the  spread  of  knowledge.  It  is,  I  suppose,  hopeless  to 
try  to  make  them  see  this. 

In  the  summer  of  1882  Youmans's  long-felt  desire 
to  welcome  our  friend  Spencer  to  America  was  grati- 
fied. Mr.  Spencer  was  accompanied  by  an  old  friend, 
Mr.  Edward  Lott,  of  Derby,  a  traveler  of  experience,  a 
man  of  skill  in  smoothing  the  difficulties  of  a  rapid  tour, 
blessed  with  imperturbable  good  nature,  and  withal 
a  trusty  shield  against  reporters  and  intrusive  visit- 


376  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

ors.  One  interview,  however,  with  Mr.  Spencer  was 
published  in  the  leading  newspapers  of  the  Union.  It 
contained  his  famous  dictum  that  Americans  are  grad- 
ually losing  their  liberties,  through  not  insisting  on 
their  rights  in  what  they  are  pleased  to  consider  small 
matters.  The  interview  provoked  much  comment  and 
criticism.  Followed  up  as  it  was  by  his  widely  quoted 
speech  at  Delmonico's,  and  within  a  few  months  by  his 
papers  on  Man  vs.  The  State,  reprinted  in  The  Popular 
Science  Monthly,  he  may  be  credited  with  having 
helped  forward  two  important  movements :  first,  that 
which  tends  to  arouse  public  conscience  with  regard 
to  the  dangerous  encroachments  of  monopolies  and 
buccaneering  corporations  of  all  kinds ;  second,  that 
which  issues  in  the  increasing  habit  of  holiday-making, 
which  disperses  every  summer  a  growing  percentage 
of  the  dwellers  in  cities  along  the  seashore,  among 
meadows,  hills,  and  forests. 

Mr.  Spencer's  delicate  health  had  rendered  him  in- 
capable of  accepting  a  tithe  of  the  hospitality  proffered 
him,  but  the  desire  that  he  should  be  entertained  at  a 
public  banquet  before  his  embarkation  was  so  warmly 
expressed  that  to  decline  was  out  of  the  question.  On 
November  9th,  therefore,  the  banquet  took  place  at 
Delmonico's.  The  event  is  memorable  in  the  annals  of 
New  York  entertainments,  not  only  for  the  brilliant 
company  it  assembled,  but  for  the  permanent  value  of 
much  that  was  said  by  the  speakers  of  the  evening. 
Mr.  Spencer  was  so  exhilarated  by  the  splendid  occa- 
sion that  its  excitements  left  him  better  rather  than 
worse. 

Among  the  few  letters  connected  with  the  period 
while  Spencer  was  in  America  I  find  the  following 
pleasant  and  characteristic  effusion  from  Mr.  Beecher : 


Last   Years.  377 

BROOKLYN,  Arovember  2,  1882. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  All  of  Saturday  is  free  to  Mr. 
Spencer.  I  will  ride  with  him,  talk  with  him,  be  silent  with 
him,  eat  with  him,  or  do  anything  except  commit  suicide 
with  him. 

We  dine  at  one  o'clock.  If  he  will,  he  shall  have  oysters 
or  lobsters,  beef  or  mutton,  game  or  fish,  or  all  of  them; 
tea,  coffee,  or  wine — and  if  the  latter,  I  will  give,  him  better 
port  than  New  York  can  produce;  or  he  shall  have  Madeira 
or  sherry  or  claret  or  champagne;  or  if  the  British  blood 
calls  for  beer,  he  shall  have  that — English  ale,  brown  stout 
of  the  finest,  German  beer,  lager  beer;  and  such  is  my  wish 
to  please  him  that  I  will  even  give  him  cold  water.  He  shall 
have  all  these,  or,  if  he  prefer,  he  shall  not  have  any  of  them. 
If  I  had  had  him  in  Peekskill  yesterday  he  would  have  seen 
such  a  glory  of  colour  as  would  have  made  him  exclaim, 
14  This  is  the  gate  of  heaven  !  " 

I  have  a  complete  set  of  his  works,  and  he  may  read 
them  if  he  likes,  though  I  have  several  bushels  of  old  ser- 
mons which  might  edify  him,  perhaps,  more. 

Of  course  you  are  expected  to  come  also,  and,  unless  on 
a  doctor's  prescription,  you  will  not  be  expected  to  take  any 
intoxicating  beverage  !  Faithfully  yours, 

HENRY  WARD  BEECHER. 

p.  S. — November  3d,  at  your  office.  I  learn  that  Spencer 
is  on  his  back  at  Newport.  That  ends  it.  All  viands  and 
all  wines  are  banished,  and  strict  asceticism  resumes  its 
sway. 

The  winter  of  i882-'83  I  spent  in  London  and  saw 
much  of  Spencer,  whose  health  was  then  too  poor  for 
him  to  do  much  work.  We  were  beginning  to  feel 
anxious  about  Youmans's  health,  as  appears  in  the  fol- 
lowing letter : 
17 


3/8  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

38  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  April  12,  1883. 

DEAR  YOUMANS  :  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  though  you 
have  had  difficulties  with  the  severe  winter  you  have  never- 
theless got  through  it  thus  far  without  serious  mischief.  I 
hope  what  remains  will  do  you  no  harm.  Next  winter 
pray  do  not  take  the  risky  course  of  trying  to  bear  it ;  but 
take  the  safe  course,  and  infer  that  you  will  not  bear  it  with 
impunity.  It  is  this  running  of  risks  because  on  previous 
occasions  it  has  been  done  with  impunity  that  habitually 
leads  to  fatal  results. 

I  am  glad  to  report  myself  considerably  better.  The 
bad  weather  is  pretty  well  ended;  and  since  the  improve- 
ment set  in  I  have  been  gaining  ground  considerably,  so 
that  I  am  now  doing  a  little  work  without  much  inconven- 
ience. However,  my  sleeping  has  been  considerably  worse 
than  usual  for  the  last  week;  and  I  am  to-day  going  down 
to  Brighton  for  a  few  days  to  try  and  get  some  decent 
nights.  Fiske  is  going  to  accompany  me  as  my  guest  for  a 
day  or  two.  .  .  . 

I  lately  took  up  a  book  at  the  Athenaeum  entitled  Nat- 
ural Law  in  the  Spiritual  World,  by  Henry  Drummond.  I 
found  it  to  be  in  a  considerable  measure  an  endeavour  to 
press  me  into  the  support  of  a  qualified  theology  by  show- 
ing the  harmony  between  certain  views  of  mine  and  alleged 
spiritual  laws.  It  is  an  interesting  example  of  one  of  the 
transitional  books  which  are  at  present  very  useful.  It 
occurs  to  me  that  while  the  author  proposes  to  press  me  into 
his  service,  we  might  advantageously  press  him  into  our  own 
service.  Just  look  at  the  book  and  see. 

CONEY  ISLAND,  September  j>,  1883. 

DEAR  SPENCER  :  The  erroneous  view  of  your  relation 
to  Darwin  is  very  widespread,  and  Fiske  told  me,  on  his  re- 
turn from  England,  that  he  was  surprised  to  find  how  gen- 
eral it  was  there.  It  should  not  be  suffered  to  extend  and 


Last   Years.  379 

• 

get  confirmed  for  lack  of  explicit  contradiction  and  expos- 
ure. The  truth  of  the  case  will  no  doubt  come  out  sooner 
or  later,  but  sooner  in  proportion  to  the  facilities  for  cor- 
recting the  false  view.*  I  am  very  glad  of  what  you  say  in 
regard  to  the  article  supplementary  to  that  upon  music,  and 
I  hope  you  will  be  able  to  bring  it  about  in  the  course  of 
the  coming  year. 

Beecher  has  been  lecturing  this  summer  with  great  ac- 
ceptance and  to  large  audiences  on  the  religious  bearings 
of  evolution  ;  but  his  work  is  very  crude,  being  of  the  same 
sort  as  his  address  at  the  dinner.  It  is  no  doubt  better  than 
that,  and  Beecher  is  rapidly  improving ;  but  he  has  taken 
up  the  subject  very  late  in  life,  and  has  not  had  the  time,  as 
he  never  had  the  proper  preparation,  for  mastering  the 
philosophy. 

Could  I  have  found  a  decent  excuse  for  printing  in  the 
Monthly  the  address  I  prepared  for  the  dinner  I  should 
have  been  satisfied,  f  I  wanted  the  views  there  stated  to 
go  on  record  in  the  line  of  contributions  I  have  published, 
and  which  form  a  distinctive  feature  of  the  periodical.  I  am 
not  among  the  fortunate  mortals  who  do  work  that  is  to 
survive.  Yet  The  Popular  Science  Monthly  is  bound  up  in 
all  the  American  public  libraries,  and  it  will  hold  its  place 
there  by  sheer  force  of  its  bulk — it  will  hold  over  at  least 

*  I  have  set  forth  the  relations  of  Spencer's  work  to  Darwin's  in  a  way 
that  is  entirely  satisfactory  to  Mr.  Spencer  (as  he  assures  me)  in  an  essay 
on  The  Doctrine  of  Evolution  :  Its  Scope  and  Influence,  published  in  The 
Popular  Science  Monthly,  September,  1891,  and  republished  by  the  Apple- 
tons  in  a  volume  of  essays  by  various  writers,  entitled,  Evolution  in  Phi- 
losophy, Science,  and  Art.  I  may  add  that  the  same  view  of  the  case,  as 
I  set  it  forth  in  my  Cosmic  Philosophy  in  1874,  was  equally  satisfactory 
to  Mr.  Darwin. 

f  It  is  contained  in  the  little  volume,  Herbert  Spencer  in  America, 
published  by  the  Appletons  in  1883.  It  is  not  reprinted  in  the  present 
volume,  because  the  same  points  are  given  more  fully  in  the  essay  re- 
printed below,  pp.  502-551. 


380  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

into  the  next  century ;  and  I  am  contented  that  it  contains 
evidence  that  I  knew  a  good  thing  when  I  saw  it. 

Has  Sumner  sent  you  his  new  little  book  ?  It  is  quite 
well  worth  looking  over.  He  presents  the  anti-philanthropic, 
anti-meddling  side  with  considerable  point  and  freshness.  * 

37  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  October  j,  i88j. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  By  this  post  I  send  you  a  copy  (if 
I  can  get  one)  of  to-day's  Times;  if  not,  by  as  early  a  post 
as  I  can.  It  contains  a  report  of  the  meeting  of  the  Church 
Congress,  which  will  be  interesting  and  probably  useful  to 
you — the  address  of  Prof.  Flower,  and  other  papers  on  the 
topic  of  evolution.  Theological  opposition  to  the  doctrine 
is  rapidly  disappearing,  and  before  the  end  of  the  century 
will  be  forgotten.  .  .  . 

I  returned  two  days  ago  from  Gloucestershire,  where 
the  fortnight  has  been  very  beneficial,  especially  the  first 
week,  during  which  the  weather  was  fine  and  I  got  plenty  of 
outdoor  games;  lawn  tennis,  bowls,  and  quoits,  with  bil- 
liards'in  the  evening,  did  me  a  great  deal  of  good. 

I  have  got  a  copy  of  Sumner's  little  book,  but  have  not 
yet  had  time  to  look  over  it.  I  am  glad  he  is  taking  the 
turn  you  describe,  and  wish  others  who  entertain  kindred 
views  would  devote  themselves  to  active  propagation  of 
them,  for  at  present  there  is  a  most  disastrous  movement 
in  the  other  direction.  Indeed,  I  have  almost  given  up  all 
hope  of  seeing  it  checked,  for  the  wave  has  become  too 
vast.  We  are  on  the  highway  to  communism,  and  I  see  no 
likelihood  that  the  movement  in  that  direction  will  be 
arrested.  Contrariwise,  it  seems  to  me  that  every  new  step 
makes  more  difficult  any  reversal,  since  the  reactive  por- 

.*  What  Social  Classes  owe  to  each  other,  by  Prof.  W.  G.  Sumner,  of 
Yale  University,  one  of  the  clearest  and  strongest  of  American  thinkers.  It 
is  a  golden  little  book,  and  ought  to  have  had  a  sale  of  half  a  million  copies, 
instead  of  that  stupid  Looking  Backward,  the  success  of  which  is  a 
sufficient  commentary  upon  Puck's  remark,  "  What  fools  these  mortals  be  !" 


Last   Years.  381 

tion   of   the   public   seems   likely  to  become  weaker  and 
weaker.* 

*  I  take  rather  a  more  hopeful  view  than  is  here  suggested  by  Mr. 
Spencer.  The  love  of  private  property  is  strong  in  men,  and  those  who 
possess  property  are  the  strongest  part  of  society,  as  they  ought  to  be  and 
always  will  be.  Unjust  inroads  upon  private  property  are  oftenest  made 
either  by  greedy  sharks  who  lobby  for  tariff  taxes  upon  articles  of  prime 
necessity,  or  by  well-meaning  philanthropists  who  wish  to  have  one  enjoy- 
ment after  another  made  "  free  "  (which  can  only  be  done  by  taxing  the 
competent  people  for  the  benefit  of  the  incompetent),  or  else  by  unscrupu- 
lous politicians  who  seek  to  subsidize  a  class  of  voters  by  granting  them 
pensions  or  other  gratuities.  Our  country  has  suffered  greatly  from  .such 
abominations,  but  the  reaction,  which  has  been  growing  in  strength  for 
several  years,  is  already  very  powerful.  It  was  shown,  among  other  things, 
in  the  total  defeat  of  the  Blair  Education  bill,  and  also  in  the  Democratic 
victories  of  1890  and  1892,  which  to  a  large  extent  must  be  interpreted  as 
a  rebuke  to  McKinleyism.  A  notable  symptom  is  the  declaration  in  the 
Democratic  national  platform  of  1892,  presaging  the  revival  of  the  sound 
doctrine  that  government  has  no  right  to  levy  taxes  for  any  other  purpose 
than  revenue.  There  are  indications  that  this  doctrine  will  ere  long  pre- 
vail, and  that  the  monstrous  edifice  of  trusts  and  monopolies,  overswollen 
fortunes,  labour  unions,  walking  delegates,  boycotts,  and  general  bedevil- 
ment  which  a  high-tariff  policy  has  built  for  us  will  topple  over  and  dis- 
appear. That  will  involve  quite  a  wholesale  destruction  of  the  seeds  of 
communism. 

In  spite  of  many  appearances  to  the  contrary,  the  robust  political  phi- 
losophy of  Jefferson  and  Van  Buren,  which  is  substantially  that  of  Mr. 
Spencer,  is  very  strongly  rooted  in  the  American  mind  ;  and  now  that  we 
are  recovering  from  the  evil  effects  of  our  brief  but  violent  spasm  of  mili- 
tancy, it  is  beginning  again  to  assert  itself.  In  view  of  the  comparative 
freedom  of  the  United  States  from  militancy  it  seems  not  improbable  that 
in  the  next  half  century  we  shall  advance  toward  a  sound  and  healthy  in- 
dustrialism more  steadily  and  rapidly  than  Europe.  Excess  of  militancy, 
whether  exhibited  in  actual  warfare  or  in  the  maintenance  of  vast  arma- 
ments, is  attended  with  symptoms  of  social  retrogression,  and  among  these 
symptoms  are  the  tendencies  toward  socialistic  legislation  against  which 
Mr.  Spencer  has  so  powerfully  protested.  They  are  temporary  symptoms, 
of  course.  As  long  as  the  competents  are  stronger  than  the  incompetents 
there  is  no  chance  for  a  general  and  permanent  establishment  of  socialism 
or  of  communism.  Possibly  such  systems  may  achieve  a  temporary  estab- 


382  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

NEW  YORK,  November  28,  1883. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  .  .  .  Your  communications  found 
me  in  a  somewhat  uncomfortable  condition.  I  have  long 
anticipated  tumbling  downstairs  and  breaking  my  neck, 
for  only  rarely  can  I  see  where  the  top  of  a  staircase  be- 
gins ;  so  night  before  last  I  made  the  experiment,  and  fell 
down  a  flight  of  side  steps  on  the  street.  The  glare  of  gas- 
lights blinded  me,  and  it  was  a  new  place  and  so  I  tumbled. 

The  result  was  a  Colles's  fracture  of  my  left  wrist,  the 
same  that  my  wife  had  of  the  right  wrist  a  couple  of  years 
ago.  It  was  very  painful  for  the  first  twenty  or  thirty 
hours,  but  is  now  tolerably  comfortable,  and  I  am  able  to 
get  the  bandaged  arm  in  a  sling. 

It  will  be  awkward  for  a  month  or  six  weeks,  but  I  ex- 
pect no  very  serious  inconvenience.  Fortunately  I  am  in 
pretty  good  physical  case,  having  taken  considerable  exer- 
cise latterly,  so  that  I  think  the  reparative  processes  will 
go  on  rapidly. 

February  26,  1884. 

So,  after  twenty  years  of  battling,  the  sales  of  your 
works  are  larger  the  last  than  any  preceding  year — a  little 
fact  which  I  have  not  forgotten  in  dealing  with  the  Edin- 
burgh Review.  I  got  a  point  on  the  old  quarterly  by  show- 
ing that  it  is  too  late  to  play  over- again  the  trick  it  played 
on  Thomas  Young  eighty  years  ago. 

The  bones  of  the  family  continue  to  break.  My  sister's 
carriage  was  upset  ten  days  ago,  breaking  her  left  arm 
above  the  elbow,  and  so  badly  spraining  her  shoulder  that 
she  has  been  confined  to  her  bed  ever  since. 

lishment  in  one  or  more  countries,  which  will  then  serve  as  a  melancholy 
example  for  the  rest  of  mankind,  somewhat  as  Spain  has  served  in  the  last 
three  centuries.  In  Cromwell's  time  there  was  more  danger  of  the  civilized 
world  succumbing  to  "divine  right  of  kings"  than  there  is  now  of  its  suc- 
cumbing to  communism  ;  yet  the  danger  has  been  so  successfully  averted 
that  monarchy  has  ceased  even  to  be  a  bugbear. 


Last   Years.  383 

38  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  May  27, 1884. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  I  saw  Mr.  Appleton  a  week  or 
more  ago,  and  he  gave  me  an  unfavourable  report  of  you. 
I  had  not  gathered  from  your  accounts  of  yourself  that  the 
winter  had  so  much  told  upon  your  lungs  as  to  cause  such 
an  increased  difficulty  in  breathing  that  you  always  in  get- 
ting up  to  your  office  use  the  lift  instead  of  going  up  one 
flight  of  stairs.  This  is  very  sad,  and  shows  how  mistaken 
you  were  in  not  deciding  early  in  the  winter  on  going  South. 

You  must  do  better  next  time  ;  and  to  that  end  the  best 
plan  will  be  for  you  to  come  over  here  and  spend  the 
winter  with  me,  either  here  or  abroad.  As  you  see  by  one 
of  the  inclosed  extracts,  which  has  in  one  or  other  form 
appeared  in  many  of  the  newspapers,  the  public  insist  that 
I  shall  go  abroad  somewhere.  As  they  have  failed  in  send- 
ing me  to  Australia,  they  seem  to  mean  that  I  shall  go  to 
the  Riviera,  and  not  only  that  I  shall  go,  but  that  I  shall 
live  there  permanently.  The  decision  was  quite  news  to 
me;  but  nevertheless  it  jumps  with  my  intention  in  so  far 
as  that  I  had  contemplated  flying  south  next  winter;  for 
though  I  do  not  suffer  from  our  own  winter  in  the  ordinary 
way,  I  suffer  from  it  in  the  depressing  effects  of  cold. 
Perhaps  Capri  and  Sicily  and  the  south  of  Spain  may  be 
the  places;  and  if  I  go,  you  must  come  over  and  go  with 
me,  as  before. 

NEW  YORK,  June  13,  1884. 

MY  DEAR  SPENCER  :  .  .  .  I  thank  you  much  and  very 
sincerely  for  your  note  after  you  had  seen  Mr.  Appleton, 
proposing  that  I  come  over  for  another  winter  with  you  in 
the  South.  I  am  certainly  in  a  very  bad  way,  and  it  would 
no  doubt  have  been  better  had  I  gone  somewhere  South 
the  past  winter. 

In  fact  my  satchel  was  packed  in  February  for  such  an 
escape,  when  my  sister  broke  her  arm,  and  the  case  proved 
so  bad  that  I  could  not  leave.  I  have,  however,  survived 


384  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

the  severe  winter,  and  am  now  getting  more  strength,  but 
my  breathing  continues  very  short,  and  I  have  evidently 
the  use  of  a  much  diminished  portion  of  my  lungs.  What 
the  summer  may  do  for  me  I  cannot  say,  but  I  hope  some- 
thing. There  is,  however,  hardly  enough  left  of  vigour  to 
justify  the  hope  that  I  could  again  safely  cross  the  At- 
lantic ;  and  if  I  did  I  fear  I  should  be  rather  a  burden  than 
a  helpful  companion.  But  all  the  same,  your  invitation  is 
pleasant,  and  most  cordially  appreciated. 

November  //,  1884. 

...  As  for  myself,  I  think  I  can  report  my  health  as  on 
the  whole  considerably  better.  The  recent  fine  autumnal 
weather  has  been  very  favourable,  and  I  have  been  able  to 
increase  my  exercise  and  gain  corresponding  strength. 
The  state  of  my  lungs  puzzles  me,  as  there  seems  to  be 
some  change  of  symptoms,  and  I  am  much  inclined  to  in- 
terpret them  favourably;  but  I  shall  soon  consult  one  of 
our  best  authorities  on  pulmonary  matters  and  get  at  the 
present  significance  of  the  case.  I  am  every  way  ex- 
tremely well  except  the  lung  irritability  and  constant 
shortness  of  breath. 

I  am  able  to  take  pretty  long  walks  if  at  a  moderate 
pace,  but  the  slightest  quickening  of  movement  sets  the 
heart  to  pounding,  which  I  suppose  means  a  demand  for 
more  arterialization  of  the  blood  than  the  lungs  can  give. 
I  still  talk  of  going  away,  but  how  to  get  away  and  where 
to  go  are  not  easy  questions  to  answer. 

No  doubt  imperfect  arterialization  of  the  blood 
was  the  most  serious  feature  of  the  case.  From  the 
desperate  attack  of  pneumonia  combined  with  pleurisy, 
in  1881,  Youmans  had  never  really  recovered.  The 
continued  and  incurable  adhesion  of  the  lung-  to  the 
pleura  robbed  it  of  half  its  efficiency,  and  under  this 
wretched  mechanical  difficulty,  in  spite  of  the  delusive 


Last   Years.  385 

moments  of  exhilaration  or  encouragement  that  came 
from  time  to  time,  my  gallant  old  friend's  life  was 
steadily  ebbing  away.  The  case  in  many  outward 
respects  simulated  pulmonary  consumption.  The  ap- 
proach of  winter  filled  him  with  dread,  but  inexorable 
tasks  prevented  his  retreat  southward  until  February, 
when,  accompanied  by  his  sister,  he  went  to  Thomas- 
ville,  Georgia.  Meanwhile  in  Spencer's  letters  the 
note  of  alarm  is  very  distinctly  heard  : 


38  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  LONDON,  W.,  January  j, 
MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  I  have  been  looking  for  a  letter 
from  you  for  some  little  time,  and  hope  that  the  rather 
long  interval  does  not  indicate  any  disturbance  in  your 
health  from  the  cold  weather,  although  I  decidedly  fear  it. 
I  regret  greatly  that  you  so  persistently  resist  the  sugges- 
tions to  go  South,  and  continually  hope  that  you  may  run 
risks  without  evil,  although  you  have  so  many  times  ex- 
perienced evil  from  doing  this. 

January  fj,  1883. 

The  long  interval  since  I  heard  from  you  leads  me  to 
fear  that  you  are  ill,  or  at  any  rate  suffering  seriously  from 
the  cold  weather.  Pray  go  South. 

January  14,   1883. 

After  sending  off  my  note  yesterday,  in  some  anxiety 
about  your  state,  I  was  glad  to  get  a  letter  from  you  this 
morning  which  relieved  me  a  little,  though  not  fully,  for  it 
appears  that  the  winter  is  telling  upon  you,  if  not  in  a  re- 
newed pulmonary  attack,  still  in  other  ways. 

Why  will  you,  against  your  better  knowledge,  yield  to 
this  American  mania  of  sacrificing  yourself  in  trying  to  do 
more  work  ?  You  accept  in  theory  the  gospel  of  relaxa- 
tion ;  why  can  you  not  act  upon  it  ?  What  is  the  use  of 
both  abridging  life  and  making  it  full  of  physical  miseries, 
all  in  the  hope  of  achieving  a  little  more,  arid  eventually 


386  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

being  baulked  of  your  hope  by  the  very  eagerness  to 
achieve  ?  You  have  done  quite  enough  already  in  the  way 
of  working  for  the  public  good.  Pay  a  little  regard  to 
yourself,  and  let  things  drift.  As  for  trying  to  brave  out 
again  the  winter  in  New  York,  you  have  already  had  amply 
sufficient  lessons  of  the  mischief  of  taking  the  risky  course, 
and  I  should  have  thought  that  you  would  be  willing  to 
take  the  prudent  one.  Excuse  my  plain  speaking,  but  it  is 
grievous  to  me  to  see  you  deliberately  killing  yourself. 

February  4,  1885. 

I  should  like  to  hear  something  about  you.  It  is  now 
a  month  since  I  gathered  that  you  were  in  a  very  shaky 
state,  and  that  you  were  feeling  obliged  to  go  South. 

What  has  happened  ? 

March  23,  1883. 

There  has  just  been  published  here  a  book  entitled  Can 
the  Old  Faith  live  with  the  New  ?  by  the  Rev.  George 
Matheson,  D.  D.,  evidently  a  Scotch  Presbyterian,  for  he 
dates  from  Annelan,  on  the  Frith  of  Clyde.  It  is  really  a 
very  clever  attempt  to  show  that  the  evolution  doctrine  is 
not  irreconcilable  with  the  current  creed.  Accepting  evo- 
lution in  its  widest  extent  as  no  longer  to  be  gainsaid,  and 
accepting  also  the  metaphysics  accompanying  it — taking 
these,  indeed,  as  established — the  aim  is,  as  I  say,  to  show 
that  the  old  faith  may  live  with  the  new.  It  will,  I  think, 
therefore  be  an  admirable  means  of  introducing  evolution 
doctrines  into  the  ordinary  mind.  When  you  get  back, 
pray  get  hold  of  it  and  see  whether  something  cannot  be 
done  with  it  as  a  reprint.  I  should  think  Beecher  would 
rejoice  over  it  and  take  its  doctrines  as  texts. 

I  hope  you  will  be  getting  your  breathing  apparatus  into 
better  order  down  South.  Why  have  you  not  let  me  know 
something  of  the  results  of  the  change  ?  I  dare  say  you 
find  it  difficult  to  kill  time  away  from  your  work,  but  this 
is  better  than  to  let  time  kill  you  while  at  your  work. 


Last   Years.  387 

Little  advantage,  however,  had  come  to  Youmans 
from  his  sojourn  in  Georgia.  Its  dreariness  went  far 
to  outweigh  any  good  results  that  might  have  come 
from  the  softness  of  climate,  and  it  is  probable  that 
his  disease  was  too  far  advanced  to  be  arrested  by 
change  of  scene.  Soon  after  he  had  returned  home 
Youmans  told  me  that  he  would  far  rather  die  in 
New  York  than  live  in  Georgia.  There  was  no  Cen- 
tury Club  in  Thomasville,  no  thronged  and  bustling 
Broadway,  no  familiar  faces  of  old  friends,  no  daily 
round  of  cheerful  duties.  The  balmy  breezes  from 
the  Gulf  were  all  very  well,  and  the  first  sight  of  the 
negro  "  in  his  native  jungle  "  was  more  or  less  enter- 
taining ;  but  such  things  could  not  reconcile  poor 
Youmans  to  the  pain  of  lifelong  habits  brought  to  a 
halt.  Keenly  conscious  of  all  that  remained  to  be 
done  if  long-cherished  plans  were  ever  to  be  carried 
out,  there  came  upon  him  with  overwhelming  force  a 
sense  of  waning  powers  and  numbered  days,  and  he 
returned  to  New  York  rather  worse  than  when  he 
left  it. 

His  attention  for  the  next  three  months  was  more 
or  less  occupied  with  the  controversy  that  grew  out 
of  the  positivist  Mr.  Frederic  Harrison's  attack  upon 
the  views  set  forth  in  Spencer's  Religious  Retro- 
spect and  Prospect.  Mr.  Harrison's  article,  in  its 
title,  stigmatized  Spencer's  theory  as  The  Ghost  of 
Religion.  Mr.  Spencer  replied  with  a  paper  entitled 
Retrogressive  Religion,  by  which  phrase  he  happily 
characterized  the  dismal  rubbish  inflicted  upon  an 
extremely  small  part  of  the  world  by  the  half-crazed 
Comte  as  the  "religion  of  humanity."  Whenever 
a  positivist  wishes  to  express  withering  scorn  for 
anything  he  does  not  like  he  selects  as  the  most 


388  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

abusive  epithet  available  the  word  "  metaphysics  " ; 
and  accordingly  the  title  of  Mr.  Harrison's  next  paper 
proclaimed  Spencer's  views  to  be  "  agnostic  meta- 
physics." Once  more  Mr.  Spencer  replied  in  an  arti- 
cle called  Last  Words  about  Agnosticism.  All  these 
articles,  by  both  antagonists,  were  published  in  the 
Nineteenth  Century,  and  reprinted  in  The  Popular 
Science  Monthly.  Mr.  Harrison's  papers,  while  char- 
acterized by  his  usual  brilliancy  of  style,  were  sadly 
unscrupulous.  They  abounded  in  shameless  gar- 
blings  and  misrepresentations  of  Mr.  Spencer's  views, 
insomuch  that  to  some  unbiassed  readers  (whose 
opinions  I  from  time  to  time  solicited)  the  writer 
seemed  to  be  sacrificing  all  other  considerations  to 
the  single  end  of  parading  before  his  audience  with 
airs  of  victory.  A  more  charitable,  if  less  probable, 
construction  might  excuse  him  on  the  ground  that 
perhaps  "he  didn't  know  any  better."  Whether  he 
felt  himself  to  be  getting  worsted,  after  all  said  and 
done,  of  course  one  cannot  say  ;  but,  curiously  enough, 
after  Spencer's  last  article — which,  as  Mr.  Harrison 
himself  declared,  he  regarded  as  a  challenge  to  fur- 
ther discussion — he  suddenly  changed  his  audience. 
Instead  of  replying  to  Spencer  in  the  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury he  had  recourse  to  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  and 
poured  forth  a  fresh  volley  of  misrepresentations  be- 
fore a  new  set  of  readers.* 


*  One  of  Harrison's  remarks  in  this  Pall  Mall  article  reminds  me  of  a 
little  incident  in  my  experience  which  may  be  worth  preserving.  In  a 
preceding  article  he  had  alluded  to  Spencer's  Descriptive  Sociology  as  "  a 
pile  of  clippings  made  to  order."  He  now  went  on  to  say  :  "  I  have  cer- 
tainly cast  no  insinuations  whatever  on  the  three  conscientious  gentlemen 
who  carried  out  Mr.  Spencer's  directions  to  tabulate  '  all  classes  of  facts ' ; 
but  it  is  too  much  to  ask  me  to  believe  either  that  they  knew  nothing  of 


Last   Years.  389 

By  this  time  so  much  interest  had  been  aroused  in 
the  controversy  as  to  make  it  morally  certain  that  the 
articles  would  be  collected  and  issued  in  book  form  in 
America.  Such  a  thing  might  be  done  by  any  of  the 
horde  of  pirates  permitted  by  the  absence  of  an  inter- 
national copyright  law  to  infest  this  (quoad  hoc)  bar- 
barous land ;  or  it  might  be  done  by  an  honourable 
house  like  the  Appletons,  paying  to  both  writers  the 
customary  royalty.  Under  these  circumstances  You- 
mans  collected  the  articles  and  published  them  in  a 
small  volume  entitled  The  Nature  and  Reality  of  Re- 
ligion. To  Mr.  Harrison's  Pall  Mall  article  footnotes 
were  added,  pointing  out  its  misrepresentations.  Mr. 
Spencer  was  consulted  as  to  the  republication,  and 
Mr.  Harrison,  for  reasons  duly  set  forth  by  Youmans, 
in  his  article  hereto  appended,  was  not.  It  was  natural 
enough  that  Mr.  Harrison,  already  somewhat  touchy 
at  having  the  worst  of  the  argument,  should  have 
been  irritated  at  this.  But  the  case  admitted  of  ex- 
Mr.  Spencer's  theories,  or  that  they  did  not  tabulate  such  facts  as  they 
judged  would  be  most  useful  to  him.  One  would  as  easily  believe  that 
when  Mr.  Gladstone's  secretary  is  directed  to  tabulate  electoral  facts  he 
has  not  the  least  idea  whether  the  Premier  is  about  to  use  them  in  favour 
of  reform  or  against  it."  Mr.  Harrison  seems  to  think  that  the  mental  atti- 
tude of  a  scientific  investigator  is  like  that  of  an  ex  parte  advocate  trying 
to  make  a  point !  Naturally  enough,  for,  like  the  savage,  the  primitive 
man,  and  most  of  us,  he  judges  the  unknown  by  the  known.  His  remarks 
recall  to  me  what  happened  one  evening  about  twenty  years  ago,  when  I 
was  dining  at  37  Queen's  Gardens  with  Spencer  and  his  assistant,  Dr. 
Richard  Scheppig,  a  pleasant  and  accomplished  German  scholar,  who  com- 
piled some  parts  of  the  Descriptive  Sociology  (among  others  the  Mexican 
part,  in  which,  by  the  way,  are  some  grave  errors).  I  happened  to  ask  Dr. 
Scheppig  for  his  opinion  on  some  point  involved  in  the  doctrine  of  evolu- 
tion, and  I  shall  never  forget  his  delicious  reply,  or  think  of  it  without 
laughing :  "I  do  not  know  anything  whatever  about  evolution  ;  I  am  a 
historian  ! " 


3QO  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

planation,  to  which  he  would  not  listen.  For  a  mo- 
ment he  so  far  forgot  himself  as  to  impute  mean 
pecuniary  motives  to  Spencer  and  Youmans — an  im- 
putation which  he  soon  felt  obliged  to  withdraw. 
The  effect  upon  Spencer  was  to  make  him  telegraph 
at  once  to  the  Appletons  to  stop  the  sale  of  the  book, 
destroy  the  plates,  and  debit  the  loss  to  his  account. 
As  matters  had  taken  such  a  shape,  Youmans  could 
hardly  do  otherwise  than  suppress  the  book  out  of 
consideration  for  Spencer's  feelings.  He  published, 
however,  in  The  Popular  Science  Monthly  for  Au- 
gust, 1885,  an  article  Concerning  the  Suppressed 
Book,  which  is  here  reprinted  in  full,*  and  in  which, 
as  every  candid  reader  will  admit,  his  own  conduct  is 
amply  justified.  One  cannot  woftder  that  Mr.  Harri- 
son objected  to  a  form  of  publication  in  which  his  own 
articles  and  Mr.  Spencer's  appeared  side  by  side ! 

The  last  time  that  I  ever  saw  my  best  and  dearest 
friend  was  at  his  home  in  New  York  in  March,  1886, 
and  for  the  first  time  there  came  over  me  the  chill 
feeling  that  I  must  soon  lose  him.  To  accustom  my- 
self to  the  thought  of  the  world  without  him  was  not 
easy — it  has  not  yet  become  easy  ;  but  I  could  not  de- 
ceive myself,  like  the  "  everybody  "to  whom  he  alludes 
in  the  following  letter.  Dr.  Thomas,  by  direction  of 
the  Penn  Club,  had  invited  him  to  Philadelphia  as  the 
special  guest  of  the  club.  His  reply  was : 

247  FIFTH  AVENUE,  NEW  YORK,  April  23,  1886. 
MY  DEAR  OLD  FRIEND  :  I  have  to  thank  you  for  your 
very  kind  letter  of  April  8th,  with  its  pleasant,  not  to  say 

*  See  below,  pp.  562-583. 


Last  Years.  39 1 

flattering,  invitation  to  accept  at  some  suitable  time  the 
hospitality  of  your  Penn  Club. 

I  thank  you  most  cordially  for  this  offer,  which  I  as 
sincerely  appreciate  as  if  it  were  in  my  power  to  comply 
with  it.  But  I  am  physically  broken  down,  emaciated  to 
a  skeleton,  with  strength  enough  to  barely  creep  around  a 
little.  .  .  . 

Everybody  assures  me,  loudly  and  simultaneously,  that, 
though  a  little  thin,  1  never  looked  better ;  that  there  is 
nothing  much  the  matter,  and  that  as  soon  as  the  weather 
gets  settled  I  shall  pick  up  and  be  all  right  again,  and,  as 
Sancho  Panza  remarks,  "  according  as  they  say  true,  so 
help  them  God." 

At  any  rate,  should  it  ever  become  physically  possible, 
I  will  avail  myself  of  the  proffered  hospitality  of  your  club. 
I  am  a  member  of  the  Authors'  Club  and  the  Century  Club, 
but  have  not  been  able  to  attend  either  of  them  this 
winter.  Ever  sincerely  yours, 

E.  L.  YOUMANS. 

This  is  the  last  of  Youmans's  letters  that  I  have 
now  at  hand  ;  but  there  are  several  letters  to  him 
from  Spencer  in  this  last  year,  from  which  I  make  the 
following  extracts: 

LONDON,  Februaiy  20,  1886. 

MY  DEAR  YOUMANS:  I  often  find  myself  repeating  the 
proposition,  which  I  fancy  you  have  before  now  heard  me 
express,  that  each  of  us,  as  he  gets  older,  needs  a  keeper. 
As  internal  judgment  and  will  get  weaker  they  require  to 
be  supplemented  by  external  judgment  and  will.  But  the 
worst  of  it  is  that  at  the  time  when  this  kind  of  govern- 
ment is  most  needed  it  is  very  commonly  most  resisted. 

I  very  much  fear  that  you  are  in  a  condition  in  which 
something  approaching  to  coercion  is  called  for.  When  I 
advised  that  you  should  submit  yourself  to  the  winter  re- 
quirements and  stay  indoors  altogether,  I  did  not  think  of 


3Q2  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

an  evil  which  ought  to  have  been  obvious — namely,  that, 
with  your  diminished  lung  capacity,  the  continued  breathing 
of  a  more  or  less  vitiated  air  would  be  doubly  detrimental. 
Lungs  with  good  capacity  must  manifestly  feel  the  evil  of 
a  bad  air  much  less  than  lungs  of  diminished  capacity.  It 
seems  now  highly  probable  that  your  depressed  and  ener- 
vated apathetic  state  is  in  large  measure  due  to  this  double 
diminution  of  respiratory  action  and  consequent  lowered 
state  of  vital  activity.  Purer  air  and  artificially  aided  cir- 
culation (as  by  massage)  will,  I  am  quite  sure,  brighten  the 
aspect  of  things  to  you  and  make  you  feel  that  it  is  better 
to  fight  on  even  under  difficulties  than  to  surrender.  I 
may  say,  by  way  of  example,  that  I  have  myself  of  late  had 
very  discouraging  views,  my  circulation  a  while  since 
being  so  bad  that  I  dared  not  walk  from  here  across  to  my 
office  or  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  Gardens.  Indeed,  I 
was  so  bad  that  sometimes  I  could  not  stand  up  without 
producing  intermission  of  the  pulse.  However,  I  have 
persevered,  and,  on  the  whole,  with  considerable  improve- 
ment ;  so  that  ricw  the  tendency  to  intermission  has 
almost  disappeared,  and  my  spirits  as  well  as  my  power  of 
writing  have  greatly  improved.  Be  encouraged  therefore, 
by  my  experience,  to  feel  pretty  sure  that  by  judicious 
management  the  state  of  things,  even  when  apparently  very 
serious,  can  be  got  over. 

July  20,  1886. 

I  was  much  saddened  yesterday  to  receive  a  verification 
of  the  fears  I  have  been  for  some  weeks  entertaining,  that 
your  silence  was  due  to  illness.  Perhaps  the  condition  of 
things  is  not  so  bad  as  you  think ;  for,  as  I  know  from  re- 
cent personal  experience,  one  is  apt  to  put  unduly  unfavour- 
able interpretations  on  the  facts.  Doubtless  it  may  be  said 
that  friends  do  the  reverse ;  but  on  the  whole  the  estimates 
of  medical  men  and  friends  are  perhaps  the  more  to  be 
trusted. 


Last   Years.  393 

It  is  well,  however,  that  you  can  take  so  calm  a  view  of 
the  matter  as  your  description  and  reflections  imply;  and 
it  may  be  that,  when  life  has  to  be  carried  on  under  the 
conditions  you  describe,  the  desire  for  continuance  of  it 
may  fitly  decrease.  "What  is  the  use  of  more  to-days  ?" 
asks  Emerson,  referring  to  days  of  ordinary  life.  And  if, 
as  one  feels  in  the  latter  part  of  life,  even  under  conditions 
of  tolerable  health,  more  days  are  not  particularly  to  be 
longed  for,  it  seems  reasonable  enough  that  when  they 
bring  only  suffering  and  weariness  one  may  feel  no  great 
anxiety  for  prolongation. 

.  .  .  Whatever  comes,  we  may  at  any  rate,  both  of  us, 
have  some  satisfaction  in  the  consciousness  of  having  done 
our  work  conscientiously,  prompted  by  high  motives;  and 
whenever  it  ends,  the  friendship  between  us  may  be  looked 
back  upon  by  the  survivor  as  one  of  the  valued  things  of 
his  life. 

But  more  letters  may  still  pass  between  us,  my  dear  old 
friend;  and  in  that  anticipation  I  continue  yours,  with  very 
affectionate  regard,  HERBERT  SPENCER. 

BRIGHTON,  September  77,  1886. 

I  should  like  to  have  a  report  of  your  state.  The  last 
account,  which  came  to  me  through  your  brother,  seemed 
to  imply  that  he  and  those  around  you  were  almost  hope- 
less of  any  improvement,  and  were  looking  forward  with 
greatly  depressed  feelings. 

Whenever  I  have  thought  of  you  of  late  I  have  thought 
of  you  as  suffering  under  your  sultry  August  weather — bad 
enough  to  bear  by  one  in  health,  and  dreadful  to  bear  by 
one  whose  lungs  are  in  large  measure  incapacitated.  It 
must  have  been  a  grievous  trial,  and  I  wonder  you  have 
borne  it.  With  affectionate  regards  and  sympathies, 

Ever  yours,  HERBERT  SPENCER. 


394  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

7  MARINE  SQUARE,  BRIGHTON,  November  21,  1886. 

I  was  delighted  to  have  so  good  a  report  of  you,  and 
hope  that  the  next  will  show  a  great  deal  of  improvement. 

I  was  somewhat  surprised,  however,  by  the  statement 
that  you  are  going  back  to  New  York.  Is  it  because  further 
driving  out  is  now  out  of  the  question,  and  that  the  being 
near  your  medical  man  is  a  matter  of  more  moment  than 
being  in  the  country  air?  One  thing  I  very  much  fear, 
namely,  that  you  will  be  led  to  live  in  the  stove-heated  * 
air  of  your  American  houses  in  winter ;  and  this  cannot 
fail  to  be  injurious.  Cannot  you  manage  to  live  in  rooms 
heated  after  the  English  fashion,  by  a  fire,  and  without 
heated  air,  and  make  up  the  needful  extra  warmth  by  extra 
clothing — sitting  in  your  overcoats,  wraps,  etc.  ?  This 
would  be  far  better  than  breathing  such  air  as  your  Ameri- 
can houses  have,  judging  from  what  sample  I  had  of  it. 

The  next  is  the  last : 

7  MARINE  SQUARE,  BRIGHTON,  January  i,  1887. 

MY  BEAR  YOUMANS:  It  is  a  long  time  since  I  heard 
anything  about  you,  and  I  am  getting  anxious  to  have  a 
report.  Pray  let  me  know  how  you  have  fared  during  the 
cold  weather. 

I  cannot  report  favourably  of  myself.  It  is  still  the  old 
story — improvement  and  then  relapse.  The  last  relapse 
was  due  to  a  cold,  which,  of  course,  in  my  present  state, 
pulled  me  back  considerably.  "  The  malice  of  fate  "  from 
which  I  have  suffered  ever  since  last  May  has  been  almost 
incredible. 

1  have  great  difficulty  in  killing  the  time,  especially  now 
that  I  am  kept  wholly  indoors  by  the  weather,  being  unable 

*  Of  course  he  does  not  mean  the  comparatively  innocent  old-fash- 
ioned stove,  but  the  hot-air  furnace  and  the  steam  radiator,  those  twin 
inventions  of  the  devil.  Youmans's  house  in  New  York,  however,  was 
heated  by  an  improved  method,  and  was  admirably  ventilated. 


Last   Years.  395 

to  walk  about  or  to  read  or  talk  to  any  extent,  or  even  to 
play  games.  I  pass  my  hours  on  the  sofa  wearily  enough, 
as  you  may  imagine.  What  little  work  I  do  is  at  the  Auto- 
biography. 

Though  the  day  suggests  it,  it  is  absurd  for  me  to  wish 
you,  or  for  you  to  wish  me,  a  happy  New  Year.  There  is 
not  much  happiness  remaining  in  store  for  either  of  us. 

Pray  dictate  a  few  lines  when  you  get  this. 

Ever  yours,  HERBERT  SPENCER. 

This  sad  letter  found  Youmans  on  his  death-bed. 
On  the  1 8th  of  January  he  passed  away  without  pain, 
retaining  even  to  the  last  something-  of  the  blithe  drol- 
lery that  was  always  so  charming.  His  burial  place  is 
a  beautiful  site  at  Woodlawn. 

During  Youmans's  long  illness  abundant  testimony 
was  borne  to  his  singular  capacity  for  friendship  ;  con- 
stant inquiries,  anxious  and  sympathetic,  came  not 
only  from  within  the  bounds  of  the  city  where  he 
lived  and  laboured  but  from  distant  States  and  prov- 
inces— from  beyond  the  sea.  His  friendship  had  a 
rare  quality :  not  only  was  it  manifested  in  counsels 
well  considered,  and  in  a  generosity  lavish  in  compari- 
son with  his  means,  but  in  a  constant  thoughtfulness 
which  deemed  no  service  too  slight  to  be  worth  ren- 
dering. He  was  always  magnanimous,  patient,  slow 
to  take  offence,  an  ingenious  framer  of  excuses  for 
others.  To  forfeit  his  good-will  demanded  an  un- 
usual case  of  meanness  or  wickedness.  Mere  folly  or 
failure  in  the  conventional  sense  would  not  do  it.  If 
he  ascertained  anything  to  the  discredit  of  an  ac- 
quaintance he  merely  deducted  it  from  what  he  knew 
in  his  favour — he  never  let  it  cancel  a  good  record,  as 
so  many  people  do. 


396  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

Himself  one  of  the  plain  people,  as  Abraham  Lin- 
coln used  to  call  them,  he  knew  what  they  were  and 
what  they  wanted.  In  concluding  our  survey  of  his 
life,  what  impresses  us  most,  I  think,  is  the  broad 
democratic  spirit  and  the  absolute  unselfishness  which 
it  reveals  at  every  moment  and  in  every  act.  To  Ed- 
ward Youmans  the  imperative  need  for  educating  the 
great  mass  of  the  people  so  as  to  use  their  mental 
powers  to  the  best  advantage  came  home  as  a  living, 
ever-present  fact.  He  saw  all  that  it  meant  and  means 
in  the  raising  of  mankind  to  a  higher  level  of  thought 
and  action  than  that  upon  which  they  now  live.  To 
this  end  he  consecrated  himself  with  unalloyed  devo- 
tion ;  and  we  who  mourn  his  loss  look  back  upon  his 
noble  career  with  a  sense  of  victory,  knowing  how  the 
good  that  such  a  man  does  lives  after  him  and  can 
never  die. 


SELECT  WRITINGS. 


SELECT  WRITINGS. 


i. 

MENTAL   DISCIPLINE  IN  EDUCATION. 

ALL  educational  inquiries  assume  that  man  is  individ- 
ually improvable,  and  therefore  collectively  progressive. 
Through  varied  experiences  he  is  slowly  civilized,  and 
there  is  a  growth  of  knowledge  with  the  course  of  ages. 
But  while  thought  is  ever  advancing,  it  is  the  nature  of  in- 
stitutions to  fix  the  mental  states  of  particular  times  ;  and 
there  hence  arises  a  tendency  to  conflict  between  growing 
ideas  and  the  external  arrangements  which  are  designed  to 
express  and  embody  them.  Thought  refuses  to  be  station- 
ary; institutions  refuse  to  change,  and  war  is  the  conse- 
quence. 

This  fact  is  familiarly  illustrated  in  the  case  of  govern- 
ment. Ideas  and  character,  having  outgrown  the  arbitrary 
institutions  of  the  remoter  past,  there  has  arisen  between 
them  an  antagonism,  of  "the  results  of  which  modern  his- 
tory is  full.  So,  too,  religious  conceptions  having  devel- 
oped beyond  the  ecclesiastical  organizations  to  which 
they  at  first  gave  rise,  a  struggle  arose  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  which,  resulting  in  the  Protestant  Reformation, 
has  persisted  under  various  aspects  to  the  present  time. 
And  so  it  is  also  with  the  traditional  systems  of  mental 
culture.  Educational  institutions  which  have  been  be- 
queathed to  us  by  the  past,  and  which  may  have  been 

(399) 


4OO  Edivard  Livingston   Youmans. 

suited  to  their  times,  have  fallen  out  of  harmony  with  the 
intellectual  necessities  of  modern  life,  and  a  conflict  has 
arisen  which  is  deepening  in  intensity  with  the  rapid 
growth  of  knowledge  and  the  general  progress  of  society. 

The  friends  of  educational  improvement  maintain  that 
the  system  of  culture  which  prevails  in  our  higher  institu- 
tions of  learning,  and  which  is  limited  chiefly  to  the  ac- 
quisition of  the  mathematics,  and  of  the  ancient  languages 
and  literature,  was  shaped  ages  ago  in  a  state  of  things  so 
widely  different  from  the  present  that  it  has  become  inade- 
quate to  existing  requirements.  They  urge  that  since  its 
establishment  the  human  mind  has  made  immense  ad- 
vances; has  changed  its  attitude  to  nature  and  entered 
upon  a  new  career;  that  realm  after  realm  of  new  truth 
has  been  discovered ;  that  ideas  of  government,  religion, 
and  society  have  been  profoundly  modified,  and  that  new 
revelations  of  man's  powers  and  possibilities,  and  nobler 
expectations  of  his  future,  have  arisen.  As  man  is  a  being 
of  action,  it  is  demanded  that  his  education  shall  be  a 
preparation  for  action.  As  the  highest  use  of  knowledge 
is  for  guidance,  it  is  insisted  that  our  Collegiate  establish- 
ments shall  give  a  leading  place  to  those  subjects  of  study 
which  will  afford  a  better  preparation  for  the  duties  and 
work  of  the  age  in  which  we  live. 

The  adherents  of  the  traditional  system  reply  that  all 
this  is  but  the  unreasoning  clamour  of  a  restless  and  inno- 
vating age,  which  wholly  misconceives  the  true  aim  of  a 
higher  culture,  and  would  reduce  everything  to  the  stand- 
ard of  a  low  and  sordid  utility.  They  maintain  that 
knowledge  is  to  be  acquired  not  on  account  of  its  capabil- 
ity of  useful  application,  but  for  its  own  intrinsic  interest ; 
that  the  purpose  of  a  liberal  education  is  not  to  prepare  for 
a  vocation  or  profession,  but  to  train  the  intellectual  facul- 
ties. They,  therefore,  hold  that  Mental  Discipline  is  the 
true  object  of  a  higher  culture,  and  that  for  its  attainment 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  401 

the  study  of  the  ancient  classics  and  mathematics  is  supe- 
rior to  all  other  means.  From  the  tone  assumed  by  its  de- 
fenders, when  speaking  of  its  incomparable  fitness  to  de- 
velop all  the  mental  faculties,  it  might  be  inferred  that  this 
scheme  of  study  was  formed  by  the  help  of  a  perfected 
science  of  the  human  mind.  Nothing,  however,  could  be 
more  erroneous.  Not  only  was  that  system  devised  ages 
anterior  to  anything  like  true  mental  science,  but  it  ante- 
dates by  centuries  the  whole  body  of  modern  knowledge. 
There  was  abundance  of  vague  metaphysics,  but  hardly  a 
germ  of  that  positive  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  mind  which 
could  serve  as  a  valid  basis  of  education.  The  predomi- 
nant culture  of  modern  times  had  its  origin,  more  than 
eight  hundred  years  ago,  in  a  superstition  of  the  middle 
ages.  A  mystical  reverence  was  attached  to  the  sacred 
number  seven,  which  was  supposed  to  be  a  key  to  the  order 
of  the  universe.  That  there  were  seven  cardinal  virtues, 
seven  deadly  sins,  seven  sacraments,  seven  days  in  the 
week,  seven  metals,  seven  planets,  and  seven  apertures 
in  a  man's  head,  was  believed  to  afford  sufficient  reason 
for  making  the  course  of  liberal  study  consist  of  seven 
arts,  and  occupy  seven  years.  Following  another  fancy 
about  the  relation  of  three  to  four,  in  a  certain  geomet- 
rical figure,  these  seven  arts  were  divided  into  two  groups. 
The  first  three,  Grammar,  Logic,  and  Rhetoric,  comprised 
what  was  called  the  Trivium ;  and  the  remaining  four, 
Arithmetic,  Geometry,  Astronomy,  and  Music  (the  latter 
as  a  branch  of  Arithmetic),  formed  the  Quadrivium.  This 
scheme  has  been  handed  down  from  age  to  age,  and  with 
but  slight  changes,  still  predominates  in  the  higher  institu- 
tions of  learning,  and  still  powerfully  reacts  upon  the  infe- 
rior schools. 

Passing  by  various  embarrassing  questions  suggested  by 
the  hypothesis  that  the  one  perfect  method  of  bringing  the 
human  mind  to  its  highest  condition  has  not  only  been 
18 


4O2  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

found,  but  has  been  actually  organized  into  educational 
institutions  for  hundreds  of  years — a  hypothesis  which  dis- 
credits the  whole  movement  of  modern  intellect  in  its  edu- 
cational bearings — let  us  take  up  this  question  of  mental 
discipline.  The  subject  is  not  only  intrinsically  impor- 
tant, but  its  importance  is  greatly  heightened  when  an  old 
and  widely  established  system,  challenged  by  the  spirit  of 
the  age,  yields  the  point  of  the  usefulness  of  the  knowl- 
edge it  imparts,  and  offers  as  its  sole  defence  its  superior 
merits  as  a  system  of  mental  training;  and  still  more  im- 
portant does  it  become  when  the  idea  is  so  constantly  and 
vehemently  iterated  as  to  acquire  all  the  force  and  tenacity 
of  a  superstition,  and  breed  a  regular  cant  of  education, 
which  serves  as  the  stereotyped  apology  for  numberless 
indefensible  projects  and  crudities  of  instruction.  The 
writer  recently  opened  a  huge  volume  on  Heraldry,  and 
the  very  first  passage  which  struck  his  eye  in  the  preface, 
urged  the  claims  of  that  subject  to  more  general  study  on 
the  ground  of  its  excellence  as  a  mental  discipline. 

I  propose,  in  the  present  Introduction,  first,  to  point  out 
the  defects  of  the  traditional  system  as  a  means  of  disci- 
plining the  mind  ;  and,  second,  to  show  the  superior  claims 
of  scientific  education  for  this  purpose. 

The  claims  put  forth  in  behalf  of  the  prevailing  scheme 
are  as  multitudinous  and  diverse  as  the  tastes  and  capaci- 
ties of  those  who  offer  them — a  natural  result,  perhaps, 
in  the  absence  of  any  considerations  so  decisive  as  to  com- 
mand general  agreement ;  but  those  most  commonly  urged 
are,  that  the  grammatical  acquisition  of  the  dead  languages 
best  disciplines  the  memory  and  judgment,  and  the  study 
of  mathematics  the  reason.  Let  us  briefly  notice  these 
points  first : 

That  the  acquisition  of  words  exercises  the  memory  is 
of  course  true — those  of  living  languages  as  well  as  dead 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  403 

ones,  but  their  assumed  merit  for  discipline  raises  the  ques- 
tion how  they  exercise  it.  Memory  is  the  capability  of  re- 
calling past  mental  impressions,  and  depends  chiefly  upon 
the  relations  subsisting  among  these  impressions  in  the 
mind.  If  they  are  arbitrary,  the  power  of  recall  depends 
upon  multiplicity  of  repetition,  and  involves  a  maximum 
outlay  of  mental  force  in  acquisition.  If,  however,  ideas  are 
arranged  in  the  mind  in  a  natural  order  of  connection  and 
dependence,  this  principle  becomes  the  most  important  ele- 
ment in  commanding  past  acquisitions.  The  conditions 
are  then  reversed;  the  outlay  of  effort  in  acquisition  is 
reduced,  and  the  power  of  recall  increased.  Now  the 
memory  cultivated  in  the  common  acquirement  of  language, 
is  of  this  lowest  kind.  The  relation  between  words  and 
the  ideas,  or  objects,  of  which  they  are  the  signs,  is  acci- 
dental and  arbitrary.  Although  philological  science  is  be- 
ginning dimly  to  trace  out  certain  natural  relations  between 
words  and  the  things  they  signify,  it  will  not  be  claimed 
that  this  is  made  at  all  available  in  the  ordinary  study  of 
Latin  and  Greek ;  indeed,  the  most  thorough-going  advo- 
cates of  these  studies  claim  that  their  disciplinal  value  is 
in  the  ratio  of  the  naked  retentive  power  which  they  call 
into  exercise.  But  the  memory  cannot  be  best  disciplined 
by  a  mental  procedure  which  neglects  its  highest  law.  If 
the  power  of  recovering  past  states  of  consciousness  de- 
pends upon  the  natural  and  necessary  connections  among 
ideas,  then  those  studies  are  best  suited  for  a  rational  dis- 
cipline of  this  power  which  involve  these  natural  relations 
among  objects.  On  both  grounds  the  sciences  are  prefer- 
able to  dead  languages,  as  instruments  of  culture.  For  if 
it  be  held  desirable  merely  to  task  the  memory  by  a  dead 
pull  at  arbitrary  facts  (and  there  are  not  wanting  those 
who  hold  to  this  notion  of  discipline),  then  it  is  only  neces- 
sary to  use  the  innumerable  facts  of  science,  without  re- 
gard to  order ;  but  when  we  take  into  account  the  immense 


404  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

importance  of  methodizing  mental  acquisition,  and  utiliz- 
ing the  principle  of  natural  association  among  the  elements 
of  knowledge,  the  immeasurable  superiority  of  the  sci- 
ences for  this  purpose  becomes  at  once  apparent.  This 
is  happily  illustrated  by  some  observations  of  Dr.  Arnold, 
respecting  the  memory  of  geography.  He  says : 

And  this  deeper  knowledge  becomes  far  easier  to  remember. 
For  my  own  part  I  find  it  extremely  difficult  to  remember  the  posi- 
tions of  towns,  when  I  have  no  other  association  with  them  than 
their  situations  relatively  to  each  othei.  But  let  me  once  understand 
the  real  geography  of  a  country — its  organic  structure,  if  I  may  so 
call  it ;  the  form  of  its  skeleton,  that  is,  of  its  hills ;  the  magnitude  and 
course  of  its  veins  and  arteries,  that  is,  of  its  streams  and  rivers  ;  let 
me  conceive  of  it  as  a  whole  made  up  of  connected  parts  ;  and  then 
the  positions  of  towns  viewed  in  reference  to  these  parts  becomes  at 
once  easily  remembered,  and  lively  and  intelligible  besides. 

If  now  it  be  said  that  it  is  not  mere  memory  of  words 
that  is  contended  for,  but  the  discipline  and  judgment  af- 
forded by  the  grammatical  study  of  the  structure  of  lan- 
guage, the  crushing  answer  is  that  a  dead  language  is  un- 
necessary for  this  discipline,  which  is  far  better  secured  by 
the  systematic  study  and  thorough  logical  analysis  of  the 
vernacular  tongue.*  Perhaps  there  is  no  point  in  educa- 
tion in  which  there  is  so  universal  and  intense  an  agree- 
ment among  independent  thinkers,  as  in  condemning  the 
folly  of  beginning  the  acquisition  of  foreign  languages, 
living  or  dead,  by  the  study  of  their  grammar— the  method 
in  general  use  among  those  who  defend  it  as  a  mental  dis- 
cipline. The  usual  school  practice  of  thrusting  the  young 
into  the  grammar,  even  of  their  native  tongue,  is  well 
known  to  be  one  of  the  most  efficient  means  of  the  artifi- 
cial production  of  stupidity  ;  but  the  habit  of  introducing 

*  See  Prof.  Jewell's  able  paper  on  the  Logical  Analysis  of  the  Eng- 
lish Language,  in  Proceedings  of  New  York  University  Convocation. 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  405 

them  to  a  foreign  language  through  this  gateway,  is  a  still 
more  flagrant  outrage.  The  natural  method  of  acquiring 
speech  is  the  way  we  all  acquire  it;  the  knowledge  of 
words  first,  then  their  combination  into  sentences,  to  be 
followed  by  the  practical  use  of  the  language;  rules  and 
precepts  may  then  be  intelligently  applied.  But  to  begin 
with  these  is  to  put  the  complex  before  the  simple,  the  ab- 
stract before  the  concrete,  generals  before  particulars,  and, 
in  short,  to  invert  the  natural  order  of  mental  processes, 
and  to  work  the  mind  backward,  under  the  plea  of  disciplin- 
ing it.  An  eminent  living  authority  in  philology,  Prof. 
Latham,  in  a  lecture  before  the  Royal  Institution  of  Great 
Britain,  observed : 

In  the  ordinary  teaching  of  what  is  called  the  grammar  of  the 
English  language,  there  are  two  elements.  There  is  something  pro- 
fessed to  be  taught  which  is  not ;  and  there  is  something  which,  from 
being  already  learned  better  than  any  man  can  teach  it,  requires  no 
lessons.  The  latter  is  the  use  and  practice  of  the  English  tongue. 
The  former  is  the  principles  of  grammar.  The  facts,  that  language 
is  more  or  less  regular  ;  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  grammar  ;  that 
certain  expressions  should  be  avoided,  are  all  matters  worth  know- 
ing. And  they  are  all  taught  even  by  the  worst  method  of  teaching. 
But  are  these  the  proper  objects  of  systematic  teaching  ?  Is  the 
importance  of  their  acquisition  equivalent  to  the  time,  the  trouble, 
and  the  displacement  of  more  valuable  subjects,  which  are  involved 
in  their  explanation  ?  I  think  not.  Gross  vulgarity  of  language  is  a 
fault  to  be  prevented  ;  but  the  proper  prevention  is  to  he  got  from 
habit — not  rules.  The  proprieties  of  the  English  language  are  to  be 
learned,  like  the  proprieties  of  English  manners,  by  conversation  and 
intercourse ;  and  a  proper  school  for  both  is  the  best  society  in  which 
the  learner  is  placed.  If  this  be  good,  systematic  teaching  is  super- 
fluous ;  if  bad,  insufficient.  There  are  unquestionably  points  where 
a  young  person  may  doubt  as  to  the  grammatical  propriety  of  a  cer- 
tain expression.  In  this  case  let  him  ask  some  one  older,  and  more 
instructed.  Grammar,  as  an  art,  is  undoubtedly  the  art  of  speaking 
and  writing  correctly — but  then,  as  an  art,  it  is  only  required  for  foreign 
languages.  For  our  own  we  have  the  necessary  practice  and  familiarity. 


406  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

The  true  claim  of  English  grammar,  to  form  part  and  parcel  of 
an  English  education,  stands  or  falls  with  the  value  of  the  philological 
knowledge  to  which  grammatical  studies  may  serve  as  an  introduc- 
tion, and  with  the  value  of  scientific  grammar,  as  a  disciplinal  study. 
I  have  no  fear  of  being  supposed  to  undervalue  its  importance  in  this 
respect.  Indeed,  in  assuming  that  it  is  very  great,  I  also  assume 
that  wherever  grammar  is  studied  as  grammar,  the  language  which 
the  grammar  so  studied  should  represent,  must  be  the  mother  tongue 
of  the  student,  whatever  that  mother  tongue  may  be.  This  study  is 
the  study  of  a  theory  ;  and  for  this  reason  it  should  be  complicated 
as  little  as  possible  by  points  of  practice.  For  this  reason  a  man's 
mother  tongue  is  the  best  medium  for  the  elements  of  scientific 
philology,  simply  because  it  is  the  one  which  he  knows  best  in  prac- 
tice. 

It  thus  appears  that  to  secure  the  disciplinary  uses  of 
grammatical  study,  not  even  a  foreign  language  is  neces- 
sary, much  less  a  dead  one. 

When  it  is  remembered  that  the  Hebrew  language  had 
no  grammar  till  a  thousand  years  after  Christ ;  that  the 
masterpieces  of  Greek  literature  were  produced  before 
Aristotle  first  laid  the  grammatical  foundations  of  that 
language ;  that  the  Romans  acquired  the  Greek  without 
grammatical  aid,  by  reading  and  conversation  ;  that  the 
most  eminent  scholars  of  the  middle  ages  and  later,  Alfred, 
Abelard,  Beauclerc,  Roger  Bacon,  Chaucer,  Dante,  Pe- 
trarch, Lipsius,  Buddeus,  and  the  Scaligers — Latin  scholars, 
who  have  never  since  been  surpassed,  learned  this  lan- 
guage without  the  assistance  of  grammar ;  that  Lilly's 
grammar,  in  doggerel  Latin  verse,  was  thrust  upon  the 
English  schools  by  royal  edict  of  Henry  VIII,  against  the 
vehement  protest  of  men  like  Ascham,  and  that  the  de- 
cline of  eminent  Latinists  in  that  country  was  coincident 
with  the  general  establishment  of  this  method  of  teaching  ; 
that  Dante,  Petrarch,  and  Boccaccio  gave  to  the  world 
their  immortal  works  two  hundred  years  before  the  appear- 
ance of  the  first  Italian  Grammar ;  that  Shakespeare,  Mil- 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  407 

ton,  Dryden,  Addison,  Pope,  Young,  Thomson,  Johnson, 
Burns,  and  others,  whose  names  will  live  as  long  as  the  Eng- 
lish language,  had  not  in  their  childhood  learned  any  Eng- 
lish grammar  ;  that  Corneille,  Moliere,  La  Fontaine,  Pas- 
cal, Bossuet,  Boileau,  and  Racine,  wrote  their  masterpieces 
long  before  the  publication  of  any  French  grammar ;  that 
men  like  Collet,  Wolsey,  Erasmus,  Milton,  Locke,  Gibbon, 
Condillac,  Lemare,  Abbe  Sicard,  Basil  Hall,  Home  Tooke, 
Adam  Smith,  and  a  host  of  others,  have  emphatically  con- 
demned the  method  of  acquiring  language  through  the 
study  of  grammar  ;  that  the  most  eminent  masters  of  lan- 
guage, Demosthenes,  Seneca,  Malherbe,  Clarendon,  Mon- 
tesquieu, Fenelon,  Voltaire,  Rousseau,  Montaigne,  Boileau, 
Dante,  Galileo,  Franklin,  Gibbon,  Robertson,  Pope,  Burns, 
Byron,  and  Moore,  acknowledge  that  they  attained  their 
excellences  of  style  by  the  study  and  imitation  of  the  best 
models  of  writing  ;  and  finally,  that  mere  grammarians  are 
generally  bad  writers  :  when  we  recall  facts  like  these,  we 
can  begin  to  rate  at  something  like  their  true  value  the 
claims  of  the  grammatical  study  of  defunct  forms  of 
speech  for  mental  training.  That  there  is  a  useful  disci- 
pline in  the  critical  study  of  language,  as  in  the  critical 
study  of  most  other  things,  is  not  denied ;  but  that  it  has 
either  the  transcendent  importance  usually  assumed,  or 
that  it  cannot  be  substantially  acquired  by  the  mastery 
of  modern  tongues,  is  what  the  advocates  of  the  dead  lan- 
guages have  failed  to  prove.* 

Let  us  now  notice  the  discipline  of  mathematics,  the 
claims  of  which  to  an  important  place  in  a  liberal  scheme 
of  education  are  of  course  unquestionable.  Dealing  with 
conceptions  of  quantity  under  various  forms  of  expression, 

*  For  confirmation  of  the  statements  in  this  paragraph  see  Marcel  on 
Language,  in  two  volumes.  London:  Chapman  &  Hall,  1853.  It  is  not 
creditable  to  American  education  that  this  able  work  has  not  been  repub- 
lished  here. 


408  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

and  with  a  varying  application  to  universal  phenomena, 
they  are  an  indispensable  key  to  universal  science,  and 
their  basis  is,  therefore,  a  broad  and  solid  utility.  But  the 
devotees  of  tradition  are  not  satisfied  with  this  ;  they  make 
extravagant  claims  for  mathematics,  on  the  ground  of  the 
discipline  they  afford,  and  then  usurp  for  them  an  edu- 
cational predominance  to  which  they  are  not  entitled.  In 
their  subordinate  place  they  are  invaluable  ;  as  a  too  en- 
grossing subject  of  study,  injurious.  Mathematics  are 
suited  to  form  habits  of  continuous  attention  by  dealing 
with  trains  of  proof,  to  help  the  imagination  steadily  to 
grasp  abstract  relations,  and  to  familiarize  the  mind  with  a 
system  of  necessary  truth.  But  they  do  not  afford  a  com- 
plete exercise  of  the  reasoning  powers.  They  begin  with 
axioms,  self-evident  truths,  established  principles,  and  pro- 
ceed to  their  conclusions  along  a  track  each  step  of  which 
is  an  intuitive  certainty.  But  it  so  happens  that  in  our 
mental  dealings  with  the  experiences  of  life,  the  first,  the 
most  important,  and  most  difficult  thing  is  to  get  the  data 
or  premises  from  which  to  reason.  The  primary  question 
is,  What  are  the  facts,  the  pertinent  facts,  and  all  the  facts, 
which  bear  upon  the  inquiry  ?  This  is  the  supreme  step  ; 
for,  until  this  is  done,  reasoning  is  futile,  and  it  may  be 
added  that,  when  this  is  done,  the  formation  of  conclusions 
is  a  comparatively  simple  process.  Now  mathematical 
training  cannot  help  to  this  important  preliminary  work  ; 
it  leaves  its  cultivator  to  the  blind  acceptance  or  blind  re- 
jection of  his  premises.  Those,  therefore,  who  have  ex- 
clusively pursued  these  studies,  so  as  to  form  mathematical 
habits  of  thinking,  have  no  preparation  for  the  practical 
emergencies  of  thought,  where  contingencies  are  to  be 
taken  into  account,  where  probable  evidence  is  to  be 
weighed,  and  conclusions  from  imperfect  knowledge  are  to 
be  formed  and  acted  upon.  The  pure  mathematician  is 
therefore  liable  to  a  one-sided  and  erratic  judgment  of 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  409 

affairs.  An  exclusive  mathematical  discipline  must,  therefore, 
be  held  as  an  actual  disqualification  for  the  work  of  life.* 

It  is  important  to  notice  that,  so  far  as  the  mode  of  ex- 
ercising the  mind  is  concerned,  mathematical  discipline 
does  not  correct  the  defects  of  lingual  discipline,  but  rather 
confirms  them.  We  hence  see  how  it  was  that  mathemat- 
ics so  perfectly  harmonized  with  philology  as  to  have  been 
early  and  naturally  incorporated  with  it  in  the  same  scheme 
of  culture.  Both  begin  with  the  unquestioning  acceptance 
of  data — axioms,  definitions,  rules ;  both  reason  deduc- 
tively from  foregone  assumptions,  and  therefore  both  ha- 
bituate to  the  passive  acceptance  of  authority — the  highest 
mental  desideratum  in  the  theological  ages  and  establish- 
ments which  gave  origin  to  the  traditional  curriculum. 

To  those  familiar  with  the  literature  of  this  discussion, 
the  objections  here  presented  will  not  be  new ;  but  there 

*  Dugald  Stewart  remarks :  "  How  accurate  soever  the  logical  process 
may  be,  if  our  first  principles  be  rashly  assumed,  or  if  our  terms  be  in- 
definite and  ambiguous,  there  is  no  absurdity  so  great  that  we  may  not  be 
brought  to  adopt  it  ;  and  it  unfortunately  happens  that,  while  mathemat- 
ical studies  exercise  the  faculty  of  reasoning  or  deduction,  they  give  no  em- 
ployment to  the  other  powers  of  the  understanding  concerned  in  the  inves- 
tigation of  truth.  On  the  contrary,  they  are  apt  to  produce  a  facility  in 
the  admission  of  data,  and  a  circumscription  of  the  field  of  speculation  by 
partial  and  arbitrary  definitions.  ...  I  think  I  have  observed  a  peculiar 
proneness  in  mathematicians  to  avail  themselves  of  principles  sanctioned 
by  some  imposing  names,  and  to  avoid  all  discussion  which  might  tend  to 
an  examination  of  ultimate  truths,  or  involve  a  rigorous  analysis  of  their 
ideas.  ...  In  the  course  of  my  own  experience  I  have  not  met  with  a 
mere  mathematician,  who  was  not  credulous  to  a  fault  ;  credulous  not 
only  with  respect  to  human  testimony,  but  credulous  also  in  matters  of 
opinion  ;  and  prone,  on  all  subjects  which  he  had  not  carefully  studied,  to 
repose  too  much  faith  in  illustrations  and  consecrated  names."  Pascal 
also  observes  :  "  It  is  rare  that  mathematicians  are  observant,  or  that  ob- 
servant minds  are  mathematical,  because  mathematicians  would  treat  mat- 
ters of  observation  by  rule  of  mathematic,  and  make  themselves  ridiculous 
by  attempting  to  commence  by  definitions,  and  by  principles." 


Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

are  certain  considerations  growing  out  of  the  recent  progress 
of  thought,  which  have  a  powerful  bearing  upon  the  question, 
and  which  it  is  desirable  now  to  present.  And  first,  What  is 
the  real  significance  of  the  phrase  "  discipline  of  the  mind  "  ? 

By  mental  discipline  in  education  is  meant,  that  sys- 
tematic and  protracted  exercise  of  the  mental  powers 
which  is  suited  to  raise  them  to  their  highest  degree  of 
healthful  capability,  and  impart  a  permanent  direction  to 
their  activity.  The  mind  takes  a  set  or  stamp  from  the 
character  of  the  knowledge  it  acquires,  and  the  mode  of 
activity  which  these  acquisitions  involve,  and,  in  this  way, 
mental  habits  are  formed.  But,  what  is  the  basis  of  this 
great  fact  of  mental  habits,  by  which  so  spiritual  an  agency 
as  mind  becomes  fettered  ?  It  is  a  property  of  the  organic 
constitution,  and  its  consideration  brings  us  down  to  the  firm 
physiological  basis  of  the  whole  subject. 

There  are  two  methods  of  studying  mind.  The  old 
metaphysical  method  simply  takes  note  of  the  mental  ef- 
fects which  are  manifested  in  consciousness,  but  modern 
psychology  goes  deeper,  and  takes  into  account  the  con- 
ditions under  which  these  manifestations  arise.  It  no 
longer  admits  of  denial  or  cavil,  that  the  Author  of  our 
being  has  seen  fit  to  connect  mind  and  intelligence  with 
a  nervous  mechanism  :  in  studying  mental  phenomena, 
therefore,  in  connection  with  this  mechanism,  we  are  study- 
ing them  in  the  relation  which  God  has  established,  and, 
therefore,  in  the  only  true  relation.  There  is  still  a  pow- 
erful prejudice  against  this  proceeding.  Literature  and 
Theology  continue  to  pour  their  contempt  upon  that  "  mat- 
ter "  which  infinite  wisdom  has  consecrated  to  the  high 
purpose  of  manifesting  mental  effects,  while  the  scientific 
study  of  the  organ  of  thought  has  been,  until  very  re- 
cently, outlawed  by  the  state.*  Yet  nothing  is  more  cer- 

*  Human  dissections  having  been,  until  lately,  illegal. 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  4 1 1 

tain  than  that  in  future,  mind  is  to  be  studied  in  connec- 
tion with  the  organism  by  which  it  is  conditioned :  when 
we  begin  to  deal  with  the  problem  of  mental  discipline, 
metaphysics  no  longer  avail ;  it  is  the  organism  with  which 
we  have  finally  to  deal. 

When  it  is  said  that  the  brain  is  the  organ  of  the  mind, 
it  is  meant  that  in  thinking,  remembering,  reasoning,  the 
brain  acts.  It  is  now  admitted  that  all  impressions  made 
upon  the  brain,  and  all  actions  occurring  within  it,  are  ac- 
companied by  physical  changes.  Thought  usually  goes  on 
so  quietly,  and  seems  so  far  removed  from  bodily  activity, 
that  we  are  easily  betrayed  into  the  notion  that  it  is  car- 
ried on  in  a  region  of  pure  spirit ;  but  this  is  far  from  being 
the  truth.  The  changes  of  states  of  consciousness,  the 
course  of  thought,  and  all  processes  of  'the  understanding, 
are  carried  on  by  a  constant  succession  of  nerve  excite- 
ments and  nerve  discharges.  The  brain  is  not  a  chaos  of 
parts  thrown  together  at  random ;  it  consists  of  hundreds 
of  millions  of  cells  and  fibres,  organized  into  symmetrical 
order,  so  as  to  produce  innumerable  connections,  crossings, 
and  junctions  of  exquisite  delicacy.  The  simple  elements 
of  mind  are  built  up  into  complex  knowledge  by  the  law 
of  association  of  ideas  ;  and  the  mental  associations  are 
formed  by  combinations  of  currents  in  the  brain,  and  are 
made  permanent  by  the  growth  and  modification  of  cells 
at  the  points  of  union.  When  a  child  associates  the  sight, 
weight,  and  ring  of  a  dollar,  with  the  written  word  and 
verbal  sound  that  represent  it  so  firmly  together  in  its 
mind  that  any  one  of  these  sensations  will  instantly  bring 
up  the  others,  it  is  said  to  "  learn  "  it.  But  the  real  fact  of 
the  case  is,  that  the  currents  formed  by  visible  impressions, 
vocal  movements  and  sounds,  are  often  repeated  together, 
and  are  thus  combined  in  the  brain,  and  fixed  by  specific 
growths  at  their  points  of  union,  and  in  this  way  the  men- 
tal associations  are  cemented  by  cerebral  nutrition.  And 


Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

thus  the  child  goes  on  multiplying  its  experiences  of  the 
properties  of  objects  and  of  localities,  persons,  actions, 
conduct ;  he  observes,  compares,  contrasts,  infers,  and 
judges,  and  all  this  growing  and  complex  mass  of  acquisi- 
tion is  definitely  combined  in  the  growing  and  perfecting 
organ  of  the  mind. 

The  basis  of  educability,  and  hence  of  mental  disci- 
pline, is,  therefore,  to  be  sought  in  the  properties  of  that 
nervous  substance  by  which  mind  is  manifested.  That 
basis  is  the  law  that  cerebral  effects  are  strengthened  and 
made  lasting  by  repetition.  When  an  impression  is  made 
upon  the  brain,  a  change  is  produced,  and  an  effect  remains 
in  the  nerve  substance  ;  if  it  be  repeated,  the  change  is 
deepened,  and  the  effect  becomes  more  lasting.  If  we  have 
a  perception  of  an  object,  or  if  we  perform  an  action  only 
once,  the  nervous  change  is  so  slight  that  the  idea  may 
perhaps  never  reappear,  and  the  act  never  be  repeated  ; 
if  experienced  twice,  the  tendency  to  recur  is  increased ; 
if  many  times,  this  tendency  is  so  deepened,  and  the  links 
of  association  become  so  extended,  that  the  idea  will  be 
often  obtruded  into  thought,  and  the  action  may  take 
place  involuntarily.  Intellectual  "  capacity "  is  thus  at 
bottom  an  affair  of  physical  impressibility,  or  nervous  ad- 
hesiveness. Regard  being  had  to  the  law  that  all  nutritive 
operations  involve  repose,  cohesion  or  completeness  of 
association  depends  upon  repetition.  Of  course,  constitu- 
tions differ  widely  in  this  property,  some  requiring  many 
more  repetitions  than  others,  to  secure  acquirement.*  This 
view  leads  to  important  practical  conclusions. 

*  To  illustrate  the  two  modes  of  viewing  mental  phenomena,  I  will 
quote  a  couple  of  extracts  from  eminent  authorities,  reprobating  the  per- 
nicious practice  of  "  cramming"  for  examinations.  Dr.  Whewell,  content 
with  the  metaphysical  method,  observes  :  "  I  may  add  my  decided  opinion 
that  no  system  of  education  which  is  governed  entirely  or  even  mainly  by 
examinations,  occupying  short  times  with  long  intervening  intervals,  can 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  413 

When  it  is  perceived  that  what  we  have  to  deal  with  in 
mental  acquirement  is  organic  processes,  which  have  a 
definite  time  rate  of  procedure,  so  that,  however  vigor- 
ously the  currents  are  sustained  by  keeping  at  a  thing,  ac- 
quisition is  not  increased  in  the  same  degree ;  when  we  see 
that  new  attainments  are  easiest  and  most  rapid  during 
early  life — the  time  of  most  vigorous  growth  of  the  body 
generally  ;  that  thinking  exhausts  the  brain  as  really  as 
working  exhausts  the  muscles,  and  that  rest  and  nutrition 
are  as  much  needed  in  one  case  as  the  other;  when  we  see 
that  rapidity  of  attainment  and  tenacity  of  memory  involve 
the  question  of  cerebral  adhesions,  and  note  how  widely 
constitutions  differ  in  these  capabilities,  how  they  depend 
upon  blood,  stock,  and  health,  and  vary  with  numberless 
conditions,  we  become  aware  how  inexorably  the  problem 
of  mental  attainment  is  hedged  round  with  limitations,  and 
the  vague  notion  that  there  are  no  bonds  to  acquisition 
except  imperfect  application  disappears  forever.* 

ever  be  otherwise  than  bad  mental  discipline.  Intellectual  education  re- 
quires that  the  mind  should  be  habitually  employed  in  the  acquisition  of 
knowledge,  with  a  certain  considerable  degree  of  clear  insight  and  inde- 
pendent activity." 

Mr.  Bain  takes  the  psychological  view,  and  reaches  the  vital  dynamics 
of  the  case.  He  says  :  "  The  system  of  cramming  is  a  scheme  for  making 
temporary  acquisitions,  regardless  of  the  endurance  of  them.  Excitable 
brains,  that  can  command  a  very  great  concentration  of  force  upon  a  sub- 
ject, will  be  proportionably  improved  for  the  time  being.  By  drawing  upon 
the  strength  of  the  future,  we  are  able  to  fix  temporarily  a  great  variety 
of  impressions  during  the  exaltation  of  cerebral  power  that  the  excite- 
ment gives.  The  occasion  past,  the  brain  must  lie  idle  for  a  correspond- 
ing length  of  time,  while  a  large  portion  of  the  excited  impressions  will 
gradually  perish  away.  This  system  is  exceedingly  unfavorable  to  per- 
manent acquisitions  ;  for  these  the  brain  should  be  carefully  husbanded, 
and  temporarily  drawn  upon.  Every  period  of  undue  excitement  and 
feverish  susceptibility  is  a  time  of  great  waste  for  the  plastic  energy  of  the 
mind. 

*  See  page  348. 


414  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

The  doctrine  of  mental  limitations,  which  we  thus  find 
grounded  in  the  organic  constitution,  puts  the  philosophy 
of  education  at  once  on  the  basis  of  the  economy  of  mental 
power.  The  student  is  constantly  told  that  his  time  is 
limited,  and  exhorted  not  to  waste  it ;  but  his  forces  of 
acquisition  are  equally  limited,  and  it  becomes  a  question 
of  still  higher  importance  how  to  economize  these,  for  it 
is  possible  sedulously  to  save  the  moments  while  squander- 
ing half  the  energies  of  the  mind  in  bad  application.  Ob- 
viously if  intellectual  power  has  its  fixed  bounds,  the  su- 
preme question  is,  How  can  the  highest  results  be  attained 
within  those  bounds  ? 

Nature's  method  of  economizing  power  is  by  repetition 
of  actions  in  constantly  varying  conditions.  The  celestial 
order  is  maintained  by  endless  repetition  of  axial  and  or- 
bital revolutions.  The  operations  of  the  world  are  carried 
on  by  using  over  and  over  again  the  same  stock  of  re- 
sources ;  matter  and  force  circle  round  and  round  through 
the  mineral,  vegetable,  and  animal  phases ;  in  the  growing 
plant  leaves  undergo  constant  transformation  into  other 
organs,  while  the  animal  skull  is  formed  of  modified  ver- 
tebral spines.  And  so  in  the  urifoldings  of  the  mental 
world,  Nature  is  constantly  falling  back  upon  old  acquisi- 
tions, and  using  them  to  produce  new  effects.  In  the  pro- 
cess of  acquirement,  ideas  and  aptitudes  once  mastered  are 
constantly  wrought  into  higher  and  more  complex  combi- 
nations. The  organ  of  thought  being  a  vast  reduplication 
of  the  same  simple  elements,  the  growth  of  thought  results 
from  an  endless  repetition  of  the  same  simple  operations. 

The  child,  through  numberless  repetitions  of  effort,  at 
length  gets  the  aptitude  of  using  its  hands  for  ordinary 
purposes.  But  this  faculty  once  secured,  serves  for  life  in 
all  the  ordinary  emergencies  of  action.  The  necessity  for 
new  and  varied  movements  involves  no  new  acquisitions ; 
within  the  range  of  ordinary  activity  the  early  aptitudes 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  415 

suffice.  But  if  in  any  case  manipulations  of  special  delicacy 
and  precision  are  required,  as  in  learning  to  draw,  a  new 
acquisition  must  be  made.  Yet  here  the  same  thing  occurs. 
The  new  acquirement  may  be  utilized  in  other  similar  ap- 
plications ;  if  the  child  have  first  learned  to  draw,  the  apti- 
tude will  serve  also  in  learning  to  write. 

Again,  the  instrumental  performer,  by  long  drill,  ac- 
quires a  great  number  of  movements,  according  to  the  range 
of  his  musical  sensibility,  so  that  learning  new  pieces  is 
but  little  else  than  new  combinations  of  old  sequences — 
the  new  acquisition  being,  in  fact,  but  a  new  grouping  of 
old  acquisitions.  So  also  in  the  purely  intellectual  opera- 
tions. In  learning  geometry,  the  mind  having  grasped  the 
preliminary  definitions,  axioms,  and  postulates,  uses  them 
over  and  over  in  solving  the  successive  problems ;  while 
mathematical  genius  consists  mainly  in  the  ready  ability 
to  identify  the  old  elements  under  the  disguises  of  the 
new  cases.  In  fixing  the  conception  of  a  new  mineral,  plant, 
or  animal,  the  naturalist  recalls  the  characteristics  of  known 
specimens  which  most  nearly  resemble  them,  and  super- 
adds  to  these  the  new  features.  The  same  thing  holds  in 
learning  languages.  The  mastery  of  Latin  reduces  the  labor 
of  acquiring  Italian,  French,  and  Spanish,  into  which  it 
largely  enters ;  and  we  find  new  words  to  be  easy  in  pro- 
portion as  they  consist  of  old  familiar  articulations.  In 
historical  studies,  revolutions,  campaigns,  negotiations,  and 
political  measures,  are  repeated  by  the  same  nation  at  suc- 
cessive epochs,  and  by  one  government  after  another,  so 
that  a  new  history  is  but  a  varied  reading  of  old  ones;  the 
really  new  features  bearing  but  a  small  proportion  to  those 
already  fixed  in  the  student's  mind.  The  vast  mental  econ- 
omy which  would  arise  throughout  civilization  by  the  gen- 
eral adoption  of  decimal  coinage,  weights,  and  measures,  is 
but  another  illustration  of  the  principle  ;  a  few  simple  arith- 
metical acquisitions  would  serve  the  requirements  of  all 


416  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

who  deal  with  relations  of  quantity.  In  short,  our  reason 
has  been  aptly  define4  as  "  the  power  of  using  old  facts  in 
new  circumstances,"  and  this  is  the  secret  of  the  production 
of  vast  effects  with  limited  resources.* 

Now  this  principle,  as  it  affords  the  true  key  to  intellec- 
tual progress,  must  become  the  organizing  law  of  education. 
We  find  that  extent  of  mental  attainment  depends,  not 
alone  upon  intellectual  effort,  but  upon  the  order  of  rela- 
tions among  objects  of  thought.  Of  course,  mental  capa- 
city is  the  first  factor  in  acquisition,  but  that  being  given, 
the  scale  of  possible  attainment  depends  absolutely  upon 
the  order  of  the  course  of  study.  Education  cannot  make 
capacity,  but  it  controls  the  conditions  by  which  the  least 
or  the  most  can  be  made  of  it.  If  the  methods  of  study 
be  such  that  the  mind  encounters  broad  breaks  in  its  course, 
and  is  abruptly  shifted  into  new  lines  of  effort,  so  that  past 
conceptions  are  not  carried  on  to  a  progressive  unfolding, 
mental  growth  is  checked  and  power  lost.  The  extent  to 
which  one  fact  or  principle  is  a  repetition  or  outgrowth  of 
another,  in  the  serial  relation  of  subjects,  determines  the 
rate  of  mental  movement,  which  can  only  become  steady 
and  rapid  in  continuous  ranges  of  effort.  As  in  the  out- 
ward world,  the  past  creates  the  future  along  unbroken 
lines  of  dynamic  sequence  and  causation,  so  in  the  mental 
world,  there  must  be  a  corresponding  continuity  of  move- 
ment by  which  the  past  creates  the  future  in  intellectual 
evolution. 

We  have  here  the  touchstone  of  educational  systems, 
and  the  fatal  condemnation  of  the  current  theory  of  disci- 
pline. How  grossly  that  theory  violates  the  law  of  mental 
economy,  and,  indeed,  actually  provides  for  waste  of  power, 
will  be  apparent  by  glancing  briefly  at  its  origin.  The 

*  For  a  full  working  out  of  this  doctrine,  see  Bain's  Senses  and  Intel- 
lect. 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  417 

notion  of  mental  gymnastics  was  borrowed  from  that  of 
bodily  gymnastics.  In  early  times,  useful  labor  being  re- 
garded as  menial  and  degrading,  the  superior  classes  sought 
the  activity  needed  for  health  in  various  artificial  exercises. 
The  old  Greek  gymnastics  was  a  system  of  athletic  exer- 
cises cultivated  for  the  attainment  of  physical  development, 
and  had  no  reference  to  the  preparation  of  men  for  the  oc- 
cupations of  industry.  The  ancient  philosophers  held  that 
it  was  as  degrading  to  seek  useful  knowledge  as  to  practice 
useful  arts;  hence,  subjects  of  study  were  chosen  as  intel- 
lectual gymnastics  and  to  acquire  mental  discipline,  and 
this,  not  as  a  preparation  for  valuable  mental  labor,  but  as 
an  end  in  itself.  Not  the  game,  but  the  excitement  of  the 
chase;  not  the  truth,  but  the  exhilaration  of  its  pursuit, 
were  the  mottoes  of  culture.  Under  these  circumstances 
no  vulgar  question  of  economy  could  arise;  mental  power 
was  ostentatiously  wasted,  and  with  the  necessary  conse- 
quences— truth  unsought  was  not  found  ;  the  ends  of  cul- 
ture being  ignored,  there  was  neither  conquest  of  nature 
nor  progress  of  society. 

Not  only  does  the  principle  of  vicarious  discipline  in- 
volve enormous  mental  waste,  but  the  system  of  studies 
employed  to  secure  it  grossly  violates  the  great  law  of  ac- 
quisition, which  should  become  the  basis  of  education. 
That  system  is  neither  an  outgrowth  of  the  proper  educa- 
tion of  childhood,  nor  does  it  flow  on  into  the  intellectual 
life  of  manhood  :  it  is  a  foreign  body  of  thought,  uncon- 
genial and  unaffiliated,  thrust  into  the  academic  period,  and 
destroying  the  unity  and  continuity  of  the  mental  career. 
The  young  student  is  detached  from  all  his  early  mental 
connections,  expatriated  to  Greece  and  Rome  for  a  course 
of  years,  becomes  charged  with  antiquated  ideas,  and  then 
returns  to  resume  his  relation  with  the  onflowing  current 
of  events  in  his  own  age.  The  radical  defect  of  the  tra- 
ditional system  is,  that  it  fails  to  recognize  and  grasp  the/ 


41 8  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

controlling  ends  of  culture.  Misled  by  the  fallacy  that, 
through  a  scheme  of  aimless  exercises  for  discipline,  men- 
tal power  n.ay  be  accumulated  for  universal  application,  it 
sees  no  necessity  of  organizing  education  with  explicit 
reference  to  ultimate  and  definite  purposes,  and  it  thus  for. 
feits  its  right  of  control  over  the  educational  interests  of 
the  time.  For  that  there  are  great  and  well-defined  aims, 
revealed  with  more  clearness  in  this  age  than  ever  before, 
to  which  a  higher  mental  culture  should  be  subservient, 
does  not  admit  of  intelligent  question.  If  the  classical 
system  grasps  the  conception  of  education,  in  its  ends  as 
well  as  its  beginnings,  as  a  preparation  for  the  activities  of 
life  ;  and  of  discipline,  as  the  formation  of  habits  to  guide 
a  constantly  unfolding  mental  career ;  and  of  knowledge, 
as  consisting  of  a  chain  of  relations,  along  which  the  mind 
is  to  move  in  accomplishing  that  career ;  if  it  unfolds  the 
order  of  the  world,  and  puts  the  student  in  command  of 
the  ripest  and  richest  results  of  past  thinking;  if  it  quali- 
fies best  for  the  relations  of  parenthood,  citizenship,  and 
the  multiform  responsibilities  of  social  relation  ;  if  it  equips 
for  the  intelligent  and  courageous  consideration  of  those 
vital  questions  which  the  progress  of  knowledge  and  aspi- 
ration are  forcing  upon  society ;  if  it  fits  most  effectually 
for  these  supreme  ends,  then,  indeed,  it  affords  a  proper 
discipline  for  the  needs  of  the  time ;  but  if  the  student, 
after  having  faithfully  mastered  his  collegiate  tasks,  finds, 
upon  entering  the  world  of  action,  that  his  acquisitions  are 
not  available — that  he  has  to  leave  them  behind  him  and 
begin  anew,  then  his  preparation  has  been  a  bad  one ;  time 
has  been  irretrievably  lost,  power  irrecoverably  wasted,  and 
the  chances  are  high  that  he  will  give  the  go-by  to  modern 
knowledge,  and  thin  down  his  intellectual  life  to  the  lan- 
guid nursing  of  his  classical  memories. 

It  is  well  known  that,  in  numerous  cases,  the   success 
of  educated  men  may  be   directly  traced  to  neglect  of  the 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  419 

regular  college  studies,  or  to  their  neutralization  by  the 
vigorous  pursuit  of  other  subjects;  and  equally  notorious 
that  in  numberless  other  cases,  where  the  student  has  sur- 
rendered himself  to  college  influences  and  conquered  his 
curriculum,  exactly  in  proportion  to  his  fidelity  has  been 
his  defeat.  He  has  mastered  a  disqualifying  culture.  In 
hundreds  of  instances  it  has  been  the  lot  of  the  writer  to 
listen  to  expressions  of  bitter  regret  on  the  part  of  college 
graduates  at  the  misdirected  studies  and  the  misapplied 
time  which  their  "  liberal  "  education  had  involved.  «*  O 
that  I  had  some  knowledge  of  those  imminent  questions 
that  are  urging  themselves  on  public  attention,  in  place  of 
my  college  lumber  /  "  is  a  stereotyped  exclamation  in  these 
cases.  And  this  turn  of  expression  discloses  the  worst 
aspect  of  the  matter,,  for  the  lumber  cannot  be  got  rid  of. 
The  mind  is  not  a  reservoir  to  be  emptied  and  refilled  at 
pleasure.  The  student  has  not  been  preparing  a  soil  for 
future  sowing;  he  has  sown  it,  and  to  extirpate  the  roots 
will  consume  half  a  lifetime.  In  the  most  plastic  period 
of  receptivity  he  has  been  making  acquisitions  and  forming 
habits  which,  by  coercing  his  attention  and  engrossing  his 
thoughts,  will  operate  powerfully  to  obstruct  subsequent 
mental  operations ;  for  if  they  do  not  help,  they  must  inev- 
itably hinder. 

In  the  preceding  pages,  after  pointing  out  some  of  the 
special  disciplinary  defects  of  the  traditional  scheme  of 
study,  I  have  endeavored  to  show  that  in  its  very  concep- 
tion of  mental  training  there  is  involved  enormous  waste  of 
power,  and  in  its  course  of  study  a  total  nonrecognition 
of  the  great  law  by  which  alone  the  highest  mental  attain- 
ment can  be  reached.  I  have  also  shown  that  this  errone- 
ous conception  of  discipline,  by  ignoring  the  great  ends 
of  culture,  and  the  adaptation  of  studies  to  them,  not  only 
wastes  power,  but  gives  a  false  preparation  for  life.  It  re- 


420  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

mains  now  to  indicate  how  these  errors  and  defects  may  be 
remedied  by  scientific  education. 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  this  culture  does  not  deny 
the  importance  of  mental  discipline,  but  only  the  wasteful 
policy  of  vicarious  discipline.  The  question  has  three  as- 
pects. The  ancients  employed  the  useless  fact  A  for  dis- 
ciplinary purposes,  and  ignored  the  useful  fact  B.  The 
adherents  of  the  current  theory  propose  to  learn  first  the 
useless  fact  A  to  get  the  discipline  necessary  to  acquire 
the  useful  fact  B  ;  while  a  rational  system  ignores  useless 
A  and  attacks  B  at  once,  making  it  serve  both  for  knowl- 
edge and  discipline.  The  ancient  view  was  more  reason- 
able than  that  which  has  grown  out  of  it.  It  wanted  one 
acquisition,  and  it  made  it ;  the  prevailing  method  wants 
one,  and  makes  two  ;  and  as  it  costs  as  much  effort  to 
learn  a  useless  fact  as  a  useful  one,  by  this  method  half 
the  power  is  wasted. 

The  moment  that  the  conception  of  value  attaches  to 
power,  the  idea  of  its  economy  inevitably  arises,  and  this  is 
fatal  to  its  vicarious  application.  Hence  gymnastics  are 
never  thought  of  as  a  preparation  for  industrial  occupation. 
The  employer  who  should  resort  to  them  would  quickly 
come  to  bankruptcy,  for  he  knows  that  the  laborer  has 
but  a  limited  amount  of  power,  all  of  which  it  is  necessary 
to  utilize ;  and  he  understands  that  the  needed  aptness 
comes  in  the  regular  course  of  occupation,  and  in  that  way 
alone.  In  the  world  of  business,  where  results  become 
quickly  apparent,  and  a  wrong  policy  works  speedy  disas- 
ter, the  notion  of  discipline  for  a  special  activity,  and  not 
through  it,  could  not  be  entertained,  and  it  only  lingers  in 
the  world  of  mind  and  education  because  there  effects  are 
more  remote,  complex,  and  indefinite,  and  the  conse- 
quences of  a  wrong  principle  are  less  readily  detected. 
With  the  growing  perception  of  the  relation  between 
human  thought  and  human  life,  it  will  be  seen  that  by  far 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  421 

the  most  priceless  of  all  things  is  mental  power ;  while  one 
of  the  highest  offices  of  education  must  be  strictly  to  econo- 
mize and  wisely  to  expend  it.  Science  made  the  basis  of 
culture,  will  accomplish  this  result. 

We  have  affirmed  the  broad  principle  of  mental  limita- 
tions, but  let  none  suppose  that  its  necessary  corollary  is 
narrow  and  stinted  mental  results.  It  has  been  explained 
how  this  consequence  is  to  be  escaped.  A  limited  outlay 
of  energy  with  results  so  vast  as  to  seem  out  of  all  pro- 
portion with  it,  is  exactly  the  miraculous  problem  which 
Nature  has  solved.  It  was  at  first  supposed  that  prodi- 
gious quantities  of  power  were  required  to  work  the  At- 
lantic cable — an  error  which  probably  led  to  its  destruc- 
tion ;  but  electricians  have  been  recently  startled  by  the 
discovery  that  the  force  generated  in  a  lady's  thimble,  or 
even  in  a  percussion  cap,  is  sufficient  to  operate  the  ocean 
telegraph.  The  lesson  of  this  experience  is,  that  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  laws  of  power  is  essential  to  prevent  waste 
of  power ;  and  this  is  no  more  true  in  physical  dynamics 
than  in  mental.  Let  none  indulge  apprehensions  that  this 
doctrine  of  limits  to  acquirement  darkens  the  future  of 
education,  or  derogates  from  man's  mental  dignity.  What 
the  human  mind  has  already  accomplished  is  our  starting 
point.  Working  waywardly,  in  isolation,  by  arbitrary 
methods,  upon  chaotic  materials,  and  in  ignorance  of  the 
mighty  secret  of  its  power,  grand  results  have  nevertheless 
been  achieved,  and  they  are  the  indices  of  attainment 
under  the  worst  conditions.  But  in  the  new  revelation  of 
a  cosmical  order,  and  of  the  correlation  and  interde- 
pendence of  all  truth,  Science  utters  a  pregnant  prophecy 
of  the  mind's  future  destiny,  and  vindicates  her  right  to 
take  control  of  its  future  unfolding. 

The  ideal  of  the  higher  education  demanded  by  the 
present  age,  especially  in  this  country,  where  it  is  becom- 
ing most  general,  is  a  scheme  of  study,  which,  while  it 


422  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

represents  the  present  state  of  knowledge,  and  affords  a 
varied  cultivation  and  a  harmonious  discipline,  shall  at 
the  same  time  best  prepare  for  the  responsible  work  of  life. 
For  this  the  study  of  languages  and  mathematics  is  neces- 
sary, but  far  from  sufficient.  Other  sciences  are  to  be  sup- 
plied and  a  curriculum  framed,  which,  conforming  to  the 
true  logical  order  of  subjects  on  the  one  hand,  shall  equally 
conform  to  the  order  of  unfolding  the  mental  faculties  on 
the  other,  thus  reaching  an  integral  discipline  through  liv- 
ing and  applicable  knowledge. 

There  is  great  significance  in  the  fact  that  the  prevail- 
ing higher  culture  is  without  a  foundation.  Professing  to 
devote  itself  exclusively  to  the  moulding  and  evolution  of 
mind — sinking  knowledge  itself  into  nothingness  in  com- 
parison with  this  effect — its  method  does  not  reach  back  to 
those  beginnings  of  culture  which  far  outweigh  in  impor- 
tance all  subsequent  action.  And  this  is  no  trifling  criticism 
of  that  method.  Is  it  possible  for  a  truly  philosophical 
system  of  training  the  mental  powers  to  have  been  organ- 
ized for  centuries  in  all  the  higher  institutions,  and  not 
have  reacted  with  controlling  power  upon  the  processes  of 
primary  instruction  ?  Here  a  true  method  must  begin,  and 
here  scientific  education  does  begin.  Commencing  early, 
and  commencing  with  Nature,  it  lays  the  foundation  of  cul- 
ture in  the  systematic  exercise  of  the  observing  powers. 
In  childhood  there  is  a  vast  capability  of  accumulating  sim- 
ple facts.  The  higher  forms  of  mental  activity  not  having 
come  into  exercise,  the  whole  plastic  power  of  the  brain  is 
devoted  to  the  storing  up  of  perceptions,  while  the  vigour  of 
cerebral  growth  insures  the  highest  intensity  of  mental  ad- 
hesiveness. The  capability  of  grasping  relations  being  low, 
it  makes  but  little  difference  at  first  what  objects  are  pre- 
sented to  attention  ;  words  or  things,  with  meaning  or  with- 
out, and  in  the  most  arbitrary  order,  stick  readily  in  the 
memory.  Skilful  guidance  at  this  period  is  of  the  very 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  423 

highest  importance.  When  curiosity  is  freshest,  and  the  per- 
ceptions keenest,  and  memory  most  impressible,  before  the 
maturity  of  the  reflective  powers,  the  opening  mind  should 
be  led  to  the  art  of  noticing  the  aspects,  properties,  and 
simple  relations  of  the  surrounding  objects  of  Nature.  This 
should  be  guided  into  a  growing  habit,  and  the  young  pupil 
gradually  trained  to  know  how  to  observe,  and  what  to  ob- 
serve among  all  the  objects  of  its  unfolding  experience.  It 
should  be  encouraged  to  collect  many  of  the  little  curiosi- 
ties which  awaken  its  attention,  and  required  carefully  to 
preserve  them;  but  to  do  all  this  judiciously  is  delicate 
work.  The  custodian  of  the  child  must  know  something  of 
the  objects  of  Nature,  and  much  of  the  nature  of  the  young 
pupil.  Above  all  other  things,  teachers  qualified  to  do  this 
work  are  the  desperate  need  of  the  age.  To  perfect  the 
object  method,  and  train  instructors  to  its  discriminating 
use,  is  one  of  the  great  functions  of  Normal  Schools,  and 
must  become  the  practical  basis  of  a  rational  system  of 
education.  Let  it  be  remembered  that  there  is  nothing 
forced  or  artificial  here  :  the  scenes  of  childish  pleasure  and 
exuberant  activity  furnish  the  objects  of  thought.  In  cre- 
ating an  interest  in  these  things  a  bent  is  given  in  the  true 
direction ;  the  valuable  habit  of  observing  and  seeking  is 
formed,  while  the  numberless  disconnected  shreds  of  knowl- 
edge are  incipient  acquisitions,  which  will  grow  with  time 
into  the  ripened  forms  of  science. 

With  such  a  preparation,  the  transition  is  natural  to  the 
regular  study  of  the  sciences,  in  which  the  observing  and 
reasoning  powers  are  to  be  systematically  cultivated.  For 
this  purpose  the  first  to  be  taken  up  are  mathematics,  phys- 
ics, or  natural  philosophy,  and  chemistry,  as  they  deal  with 
the  clearest  and  simplest  conceptions,  and  depend  upon  the 
fewest  and  most  definite  conditions.  The  adaptation  of 
mathematics  to  cultivate  deductive  reasoning  has  been  no- 
ticed. Physics  trains  equally  to  accuracy  and  precision  of 


424  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

thought;  but,  beginning  with  observation,  it  exercises  the 
reason  inductively.  From  particulars  we  pass  to  generals, 
from  observed  facts  to  principles,  by  the  mental  process  of 
induction,  which  is  a  powerful  instrumentality.  When  we 
contemplate  the  vast  extent  of  the  facts  which  form  the 
body  of  the  various  sciences,  and  the  marvellous  rapidity 
with  which  they  are  still  accumulating,  the  task  of  their  ac- 
quisition seems  appalling,  and  utterly  beyond  all  grasp  of 
the  intellect.  But  there  is  an  order  of  Nature  by  which 
individual  facts  are  connected  and  bound  together,  and 
there  is  a  corresponding  capacity  in  the  human  mind  of 
seizing  upon  those  relations,  of  binding  the  facts  into 
groups,  and  of  dealing  with  them,  as  it  were,  at  wholesale 
or  in  masses.  This  is  the  faculty  of  generalization,  by 
which  wide-reaching  principles  replace  or  represent  the  in- 
finitude of  details,  which  they  include.  Indeed,  the  advance 
of  science  essentially  consists  in  the  successive  establish- 
ment of  such  general  principles  which  rise  one  above  an- 
other in  higher  and  higher  stages,  until  a  few  simple  laws 
are  found  to  explain  and  represent  the  wide  range  of  phe- 
nomena to  ^hich  they  apply.  But  now  mark,  that  while  in 
this  way  knowledge  is  simplified,  the  mind  is  called  into 
higher  action.  The  abstraction  of  a  common  law  from 
many  facts,  while  it  relieves  the  memory  of  the  burden  of 
a  large  portion  of  them,  makes  a  greater  demand  upon  the 
understanding.  In  proportion  as  knowledge  is  compressed 
in  bulk,  its  quality  becomes,  as  it  were,  more  intense ;  and 
just  to  the  degree  to  which  this  operation  is  carried,  is 
greater  intellectual  effort  required  to  master  it.  Thus,  in 
gaining  command  of  the  facts  of  nature  and  rising  to  a 
comprehension  of  the  order  of  the  universe,  we  are  at  the 
same  time  securing  the  highest  and  most  salutary  form  of 
mental  discipline ;  and  a  form  of  it,  it  may  be  added,  for 
which  the  traditional  system  of  culture  makes  no  provision. 
The  physical  sciences,  moreover,  afford  a  discipline  in 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  425 

deductive  reasoning  the  same  as  mathematics,  but  of  a  still 
more  valuable  character.  For  while  mathematics  deals 
with  the  smallest  number  of  ideas,  those  of  space  and  num- 
ber, which  may  be  abstracted  entirely  from  all  material  ex- 
istence, physics  includes,  in  addition  to  these,  the  concep- 
tions of  matter  and  force,  although  it  deals  with  them  in 
their  universal  properties  and  forms;  and  it  thus  comes 
nearer  to  the  realities  of  experience.  Deduction  is  the 
most  common  and  practical  form  of  mental  activity.  We 
are  constantly  reasoning  from  our  general  notions  or  opin- 
ions to  particular  facts  and  circumstances.  Induction  lays 
the  mental  foundation  by  showing  us  how  correctly  to  ar- 
rive at  these  general  notions;  deduction  guides  their  con- 
stant application ; — the  physical  sciences  afford  the  best 
training-ground  for  both. 

The  mental  advantages  to  be  derived  from  a  more  thor- 
ough study  of  the  physical  sciences  have  been  very  clearly 
and  impressively  presented  in  a  late  discourse  by  Mr.  John 
Stuart  Mill,*  and  his  view  so  strongly  confirms  the  present 
argument  as  to  justify  extended  quotation : 

The  most  obvious  part  of  the  value  of  scientific  instruction,  the 
mere  information  that  it  gives,  speaks  for  itself.  We  are  born  into 
a  world  which  we  have  not  made  ;  a  world  whose  phenomena  take 
place  according  to  fixed  laws,  of  which  we  do  not  bring  any  knowl- 
edge into  the  world  with  us.  In  such  a  world  we  are  appointed  to 
live,  and  in  it  all  our  work  is  to  be  done.  Our  whole  working  power 
depends  on  knowing  the  laws  of  the  world — in  other  words,  the 
properties  of  the  things  which  we  have  to  work  with,  and  to  work 
among,  and  to  work  upon.  We  may  and  do  rely,  for  the  greater 
part  of  this  knowledge,  on  the  few  who  in  each  department  make 
its  acquisition  their  main  business  in  life.  But  unless  an  elementary 
knowledge  of  scientific  truths  is  diffused  among  the  public,  they 
never  know  what  is  certain  and  what  is  not,  or  who  are  entitled  to 

*  Inaugural  address  delivered  to  the  University  of  St.  Andrew,  Febru- 
ary i,  1867.  By  John  Stuart  Mill. 


426  Edivard  Livingston   Youmans. 

speak  with  authority  and  who  are  not :  and  they  either  have  no  faith 
at  all  in  the  testimony  of  science,  or  are  the  ready  dupes  of  charlatans 
and  impostors.  They  alternate  between  ignorant  distrust,  and  blind, 
often  misplaced,  confidence.  Besides,  who  is  there  who  would  not 
wish  to  understand  the  meaning  of  the  common  physical  facts  that 
take  place  under  his  eye  ?  Who  would  not  wish  to  know  why  a 
pump  raises  water,  why  a  lever  moves  heavy  weights,  why  it  is  hot 
at  the  tropics  and  cold  at  the  poles,  why  the  moon  is  sometimes 
dark  and  sometimes  bright,  what  is  the  cause  of  the  tides  ?  Do  we 
not  feel  that  he  who  is  totally  ignorant  of  these  things,  let  him  be 
ever  so  skilled  in  a  special  profession,  is  not  an  educated  man  but  an 
ignoramus  ?  It  is  surely  no  small  part  of  education  to  put  us  in  in- 
telligent possession  of  the  most  important  and  most  universally  in- 
teresting facts  of  the  universe,  so  that  the  world  which  surrounds  us 
may  not  be  a  sealed  book  to  us,  uninteresting  because  unintelligible. 
This,  however,  is  but  the  simplest  and  most  obvious  part  of ^ the 
utility  of  science,  and  the  part  which,  if  neglected  in  youth,  may  be 
the  most  easily  made  up  for  afterward.  It  is  more  important  to 
understand  the  value  of  scientific  instruction  as  a  training  and  dis- 
ciplining process,  to  fit  the  intellect  for  the  proper  work  of  a  human 
being.  Facts  are  the  materials  of  our  knowledge,  but  the  mind  itself 
is  the  instrument :  and  it  is  easier  to  acquire  facts,  than  to  judge 
what  they  prove,  and  how,  through  the  facts  which  we  know,  to  get 
to  those  which  we  want  to  know. 

The  most  incessant  occupation  of  the  human  intellect  throughout 
life  is  the  ascertainment  of  truth.  We  are  always  needing  to  know 
what  is  actually  true  about  something  or  other.  It  is  not  given  to 
us  all  to  discover  great  general  truths  that  are  a  light  to  all  men  and 
to  future  generations  ;  though  with  a  better  general  education  the 
number  of  those  who  could  do  so  would  be  far  greater  than  it  is. 
But  we  all  require  the  ability  to  judge  between  the  conflicting  opin- 
ions which  are  offered  to  us  as  vital  truths ;  to  choose  what  doctrines 
we  will  receive  in  the  matter  of  religion,  for  example  ;  to  judge 
whether  we  ought  to  be  Tories,  Whigs,  or  Radicals,  or  to  what 
length  it  is  our  duty  to  go  with  each  ;  to  form  a  rational  conviction 
on  great  questions  of  legislation  and  internal  policy,  and  on  the 
manner  in  which  our  country  should  behave  to  dependencies  and  to 
foreign  nations.  And  the  need  we  have  of  knowing  how  to  dis- 
criminate truth,  is  not  confined  to  the  larger  truths.  All  through 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  427 

life  it  is  our  most  pressing  interest  to  find  out  the  truth  about  all  the 
matters  we  are  concerned  with.  If  we  are  farmers  we  want  to  find 
what  will  truly  improve  our  soil ;  if  merchants,  what  will  truly  in- 
fluence the  markets  of  our  commodities;  if  judges,  or  jurymen,  or 
advocates,  who  it  was  that  truly  did  an  unlawful  act,  or  to  whom  a 
disputed  right  truly  belongs.  Every  time  we  have  to  make  a  new 
resolution  or  alter  an  old  one,  in  any  situation  in  life,  we  shall  go 
wrong  unless  we  know  the  truth  about  the  facts  on  which  our  resolu- 
tion depends.  Now,  however  different  these  searches  for  truth  may 
look,  and  however  unlike  they  really  are  in  their  subject-matter,  the 
methods  of  getting  at  truth,  and  the  tests  of  truth,  are  in  all  cases 
much  the  same.  There  are  but  two  roads  by  which  truth  can  be 
discovered  :  observation  and  reasoning  ;  observation,  of  course,  in- 
cluding experiment.  We  all  observe,  and  we  all  reason,  and  there- 
fore, more  or  less  successfully,  we  all  ascertain  truths  :  but  most  of 
us  do  it  very  ill,  and  could  not  get  on  at  all  were  we  not  able  to  fall 
back  on  others  who  do  it  better.  If  we  could  not  do  it  in  any  degree, 
we  should  be  mere  instruments  in  the  hands  of  those  who  could : 
they  would  be  able  to  reduce  us  to  slavery.  Then  how  shall  we  best 
learn  to  do  this  ?  By  being  shown  the  way  in  which  it  has  already 
been  successfully  done.  The  processes  by  which  truth  is  attained, 
reasoning  and  observation,  have  been  carried  to  their  greatest  known 
perfection  in  the  physical  sciences.  As  classical  literature  furnishes 
the  most  perfect  types  of  the  art  of  expression,  so  do  the  physical 
sciences  those  of  the  art  of  thinking.  Mathematics,  and  its  applica- 
tion to  astronomy  and  natural  philosophy,  are  the  most  complete  ex- 
ample of  the  discovery  of  truths  by  reasoning  ;  experimental  science, 
of  their  discovery  by  direct  observation.  In  all  these  cases  we  know 
that  we  can  trust  the  operation,  because  the  conclusions  to  which  it 
has  led  have  been  found  true  by  subsequent  trial.  It  is  by  the  study 
of  these,  then,  that  we  may  hope  to  qualify  ourselves  for  distinguish- 
ing truth,  in  cases  where  there  do  not  exist  the  same  ready  means  of 
verification. 

In  what  consists  the  principal  and  most  characteristic  difference 
between  one  human  intellect  and  another  ?  In  their  ability  to  judge 
correctly  of  evidence.  Our  direct  perceptions  of  truth  are  so  limited  ; 
we  know  so  few  things  by  immediate  intuition,  or,  as  it  used  to  be 
called,  by  simple  apprehension — that  we  depend  for  almost  all  our 
valuable  knowledge  on  evidence  external  to  itself;  and  most  of  us 


428  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

are  very  unsafe  hands  at  estimating  evidence,  where  an  appeal  can- 
not be  made  to  actual  eyesight.  The  intellectual  part  of  our  educa- 
tion has  nothing  more  important  to  do  than  to  correct  or  mitigate 
this  almost  universal  infirmity — this  summary  and  substance  of  nearly 
all  purely  intellectual  weakness.  To  do  this  with  effect  needs  all  the 
resources  which  the  most  perfect  system  of  intellectual  training  can 
command.  Those  resources,  as  every  teacher  knows,  are  but  of 
three  kinds :  first,  models ;  secondly,  rules ;  thirdly,  appropriate 
practice.  The  models  of  the  art  of  estimating  evidence  are  furnished 
by  science  ;  the  rules  are  suggested  by  science  ;  and  the  study  of  sci- 
ence is  the  most  fundamental  portion  of  the  practice.  .  .  .  The 
logical  value  of  experimental  science  is  comparatively  a  new  subject, 
yet  there  is  no  intellectual  discipline  more  important  than  that  which 
the  experimental  sciences  afford.  Their  whole  occupation  consists 
in  doing  well,  what  all  of  us,  during  the  whole  of  life,  are  engaged 
in  doing,  for  the  most  part  badly.  All  men  do  not  affect  to  be  rea- 
soners,  but  all  profess,  and  really  attempt,  to  draw  inferences  from 
experience  :  yet  hardly  any  one,  who  has  not  been  a  student  of  the 
physical  sciences,  sets  out  with  any  just  idea  of  what  the  process  of 
interpreting  experience  really  is.  If  a  fact  has  occurred  once  or 
oftener,  and  another  fact  has  followed  it,  people  think  they  have  got 
an  experiment,  and  are  well  on  the  road  toward  showing  that  the 
one  fact  is  the  cause  of  the  other.  If  they  did  but  know  the  im- 
mense amount  of  precaution  necessary  to  a  scientific  experiment ; 
with  what  sedulous  care  the  accompanying  circumstances  are  con- 
trived and  varied,  so  as  to  exclude  every  agency  but  that  which  is 
the  subject  of  the  experiment — or,  when  disturbing  agencies  cannot 
be  excluded,  the  minute  accuracy  with  which  their  influence  is  calcu- 
lated and  allowed  for,  in  order  that  the  residue  may  contain  nothing 
but  what  is  due  to  the  one  agency  under  examination  ;  if  these  things 
were  attended  to  people  would  be  much  less  easily  satisfied  that 
their  opinions  have  the  evidence  of  experience ;  many  popular 
notions  and  generalizations  which  are  in  all  mouths,  would  be 
thought  a  great  deal  less  certain  than  they  are  supposed  to  be  ;  but  we 
should  begin  to  lay  the  foundation  of  really  experimental  knowledge, 
on  things  which  are  now  the  subjects  of  mere  vague  discussion, 
where  one  side  finds  as  much  to  say  and  says  it  as  confidently  as  an- 
other, and  each  person's  opinion  is  less  determined  by  evidence  than 
by  his  accidental  interest  or  prepossession.  In  politics,  for  instance,  it 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  429 

is  evident  to  whoever  comes  to  the  study  from  that  of  the  experi- 
mental sciences,  that  no  political  conclusions  of  any  value  for  practice 
can  be  arrived  at  by  direct  experience.  Such  specific  experience  as 
we  can  have,  serves  only  to  verify,  and  even  that  insufficiently,  the 
conclusions  of  reasoning.  Take  any  active  force  you  please  in  poli- 
tics, take  the  liberties  of  England,  or  free  trade  ;  how  should  we 
know  that  either  of  these  things  conduced  to  prosperity,  if  we  could 
discern  no  tendency  in  the  things  themselves  to  produce  it?  If  we 
had  only  the  evidence  of  what  is  called  our  experience,  such  pros- 
perity as  we  enjoy  might  be  owing  to  a  hundred  other  causes,  and 
might  have  been  obstructed,  not  promoted,  by  these.  All  true 
political  science  is,  in  one  sense  of  the  phrase,  a  priori,  being  de- 
duced from  the  tendencies  of  things,  tendencies  known  either  through 
our  general  experience  of  human  nature,  or  as  the  result  of  an  anal- 
ysis of  the  course  of  history,  considered  as  a  progressive  evolution. 
It  requires,  therefore,  the  union  of  induction  and  deduction,  and  the 
mind  that  is  equal  to  it  must  have  been  well  disciplined  in  both.  But 
familiarity  with  scientific  experiment  at  least  does  the  useful  service 
of  inspiring  a  wholesome  scepticism  about  the  conclusions  which  the 
mere  surface  of  experience  suggests. 

The  discipline  of  observation  and  strict  reasoning  af- 
forded by  the  exact  sciences,  mathematics,  physics,  and 
chemistry,  pure  and  applied,  being  secured,  we  then  pass 
to  the  study  of  the  biological  sciences,  botany,  zoology, 
physiology,  geology.  A  new  order  of  truths  and  new  cir- 
cumstances of  knowledge  are  here  encountered,  to  which 
the  sciences  just  considered  are  an  indispensable  introduc- 
tion, but  for  which,  the  mental  habits  they  form  are  not  an 
adequate  preparation.  We  are  still  carefully  to  observe, 
still  to  reason  from  facts  to  general  principles,  but  the  facts, 
though  equally  positive,  are  now  so  different — so  complex, 
inaccessible,  and  indefinite,  as  to  embarrass  inference,  and 
call  for  a  higher  exercise  of  the  judgment.  Experiment 
or  active  observation,  which  plays  so  prominent  a  part  in 
physics  and  chemistry,  is  here  greatly  limited  ;  we  cannot 
isolate  the  phenomena,  and  turn  them  round  and  round, 


430  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

and  inside  out,  so  as  to  compel  a  revelation  of  their 
secrets  :  hence,  in  proportion  as  the  sources  of  error  be- 
come more  numerous  and  fallacies  more  insidious,  a  subt- 
ler exercise  of  the  reason  is  demanded — more  circumspec- 
tion in  weighing  evidence  and  checking  conclusions,  and  a 
severer  necessity  for  suspension  of  judgment.  As  the  bio- 
logical sciences  deal  with  the  laws  of  life  and  the  phenom- 
ena of  living  b'eings,  man  in  his  animal  constitution  and 
relations,  is  included  in  their  subject-matter,  while  the 
problems  presented  exercise  the  mind  in  a  manner  similar  to 
the  formation  of  judgments  upon  human  affairs.  Com- 
plete or  demonstrative  induction  being  impossible,  we  are 
compelled  to  form  conclusions  from  only  a  part  of  the 
facts  involved,  and  to  anticipate  the  agreement  of  the  rest. 
This  is  reasoning  from  analogy,  a  powerful  but  perilous 
mode  of  proceeding;  one  which  we  are  compelled  con- 
stantly to  adopt  in  our  mental  treatment  of  the  concerns 
of  life,  and  for  which  biological  studies  are  eminently  suited 
to  give  the  requisite  discipline. 

Another  advantage  of  the  study  of  these  subjects  is 
afforded  by  the  comprehensiveness  and  perfection  of  their 
classifications.  No  other  subjects,  compare  with  zoology 
and  botany  in  these  respects.  Not  only  do  they  furnish 
inexhaustible  material  for  the  exercise  of  memory,  but  by 
the  presentation  of  facts  in  their  natural  relations  they 
exercise  it  in  its  highest  and  most  perfect  form.  It  is 
maintained  by  Agassiz  that  classifications  in  natural  his- 
tory are  but  reports  of  the  order  of  Nature — expressions 
of  her  profoundest  plan  ;  and  he  even  goes  so  far  as  to  in- 
terpret them  as  a  divine  ideal  programme  of  constructions, 
of  which  the  living  world  is  but  the  execution.  However 
this  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  they  open  to  us  the  broadest 
view  of  the  relations  and  harmonies  of  organic  nature,  and 
are  best  fitted  to  discipline  the  mind  in  dealing  with  large 
co-ordinations,  and  the  comprehensive  arrangement  of 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  431 

objects  of  thought,  whether  in  the  arts,  the  professions, 
business,  or  science. 

Dr.  Whewell,  in  his  defence  of  the  absorbing  attention 
given  to  mathematics  and  physics,  in  the  University  of 
Cambridge,  has  urged  the  necessity  of  admitting,  as  means 
of  education,  only  those  subjects  the  truths  of  which  are 
demonstrated  and  settled  forever.  But  what  is  the  extent 
of  the  field  of  the  absolutely  unquestionable  ?  Mathe- 
matics do  indeed  present  truths  upon  which  rational  be- 
ings can  never  disagree  ;  but  supposing  that  the  student 
becomes  a  little  inquisitive,  and  ventures  to  ask  something 
about  the  grounds  and  origin  of  these  truths,  he  is  in- 
stantly launched  into  the  arena  of  polemical  strife,  and  his 
teacher,  from  being  a  frigid  expositor  of  self-evident  prin- 
ciples, is  suddenly  transformed  into  an  ardent  partisan. 
Dr.  Whewell  has  been  the  lifelong  champion  of  certain 
views  respecting  the  nature  of  mathematical  conceptions, 
which  are  sharply  contested,  and  have  certainly  no  more 
than  held  their  own  in  philosophical  conflict.  In  the  field 
of  physics,  also,  has  not  the  present  generation  witnessed 
one  of  the  deepest  and  most  comprehensive  revolutions 
which  the  history  of  science  records — the  acceptance  of  a 
totally  new  view  of  the  nature  and  relations  of  forces  ? 
What,  indeed,  is  the  object  of  education,  the  leading  out 
of  the  mind,  if  not  to  arouse  thought  and  provoke  inquiry, 
as  well  as  to  direct  them  ?  Is  the  student's  mind  a  tank  to 
be  filled,  or  an  organism  to  be  quickened  ?  It  may  be 
well  pleasing  to  indolent  and  arrogant  pedagogues  never 
to  have  their  assertions  questioned,  but  it  is  wholesome 
neither  for  themselves  nor  their  students. 

Important  as  may  be  the  mental  preparation  for  deal- 
ing with  certainties,  it  is  still  more  important  to  prepare  for 
dealing  with  uncertainties  :  to  ignore  this,  arrests  education 
at  an  inferior  stage,  and  but  ill  prepares  for  the  emergencies 
of  practical  life.  It  is  matter  of  notoriety  that  the  so- 


43 2  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

called  liberal  culture  is  no  adequate  protection  against  nu- 
merous fallacies  and  impostures  which  are  current  in  so- 
ciety ;  and  to  so  great  an  extent  is  this  true  that  it  is  com- 
mon to  question  whether,  after  all,  for  our  real  needs,  edu- 
cation is  better  than  ignorance.  But  there  is  an  "  educated 
ignorance,"  which,  for  the  great  end  of  guiding  to  action 
and  ruling  the  conduct,  is  as  worthless  as  blank  ignorance. 
Take  the  charlatanries  of  medical  treatment ;  take  the 
question  of  so-called  "  spiritual  manifestations,"  and  we 
find  persons  of  reputed  culture  and  good  sense  venturing 
opinions,  adopting  practices,  and  professing  to  "  investi- 
gate," in  the  completest  ignorance  of  all  the  conditions  of 
thinking — all  the  canons  of  inquiry  which  have  conducted 
to  truth  in  this  high  and  complex  range  of  subjects. 

To  meet  these  and  kindred  emergencies  of  our  social 
experience,  we  require  an  education  not  merely  in  dead 
languages,  mathematics,  and  physics,  with  perhaps  a  super- 
added  smattering  of  physiology  and  geology,  but  such  a 
training  in  the  fundamental  organic  sciences  as  shall  con- 
stitute a  thorough  biological  discipline. 

The  direct  and  powerful  bearing  of  biological  studies 
upon  an  understanding  of  the  nature  and  relations  of  man 
has  been  so  well  stated  by  Mr.  Mill,  in  the  address  already 
referred  to,  in  speaking  of  the  educational  claims  of  physi- 
ology, that  I  cannot  forbear  making  another  extract : 

The  first  is  physiology  ;  the  science  of  the  laws  of  organic  and 
animal  life,  and  especially  of  the  structure  and  functions  of  the  human 
body.  It  would  be  absurd  to  pretend  that  a  profound  knowledge  of 
this  difficult  subject  can  be  acquired  in  youth,  or  as  a  part  of  general 
education.  Yet  an  acquaintance  with  its  leading  truths  is  one  of 
those  acquirements  which  ought  not  to  be  the  exclusive  property  of 
a  particular  profession.  The  value  of  such  knowledge  for  daily  uses 
has  been  made  familiar  to  us  all  by  the  sanitary  discussions  of  late 
years.  There  is  hardly  one  among  us  who  may  not,  in  some  position 
of  authority,  be  required  to  form  an  opinion  and  take  part  in  public 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  433 

action  on  sanitary  subjects.  And  the  importance  of  understanding 
the  true  conditions  of  health  and  disease — of  knowing  how  to  acquire 
and  preserve  that  healthy  habit  of  body  which  the  most  tedious  and 
costly  medical  treatment  so  often  fails  to  restore  when  once  lost, 
should  secure  a  place  in  general  education  for  the  principal  maxims 
of  hygiene,  and  some  of  those  even  of  practical  medicine.  For  those 
who  aim  at  high  intellectual  cultivation,  the  study  of  physiology  has 
still  greater  recommendations,  and  is,  in  the  present  state  of  advance- 
ment of  the  higher  studies,  a  real  necessity.  The  practice  which  it 
gives  in  the  study  of  Nature  is  such  as  no  other  physical  science 
affords  in  the  same  kind,  and  is  the  best  introduction  to  the  difficult 
questions  of  politics  and  social  life.  Scientific  education,  apart  from 
professional  objects,  is  but  a  preparation  for  judging  rightly  of  Man, 
and  of  his  requirements  and  interests,  But  to  this  final  pursuit, 
which  has  been  called  par  excellence  the  proper  study  of  mankind, 
physiology  is  the  most  serviceable  of  the  sciences,  because  it  is  the 
nearest.  Its  subject  is  already  Man  :  the  same  complex  and  manifold 
being,  whose  properties  are  not  independent  of  circumstance,  and 
immovable  from  age  to  age,  like  those  of  the  ellipse  and  hyperbola, 
or  of  sulphur  and  phosphorus,  but  are  infinitely  various,  indefinitely 
modifiable  by  art  or  accident,  graduating  by  the  nicest  shades  into 
one  another,  and  reacting  upon  one  another  in  a  thousand  ways,  so 
that  they  are  seldom  capable  of  being  isolated  and  observed  sepa- 
rately. With  the  difficulties  of  the  study  of  a  being  so  constituted, 
the  physiologist,  and  he  alone  among  scientific  inquirers,  is  already 
familiar.  Take  what  view  we  will  of  man  as  a  spiritual  being,  one 
part  of  his  nature  is  far  more  like  another  than  either  of  them  is  like 
anything  else.  In  the  organic  world  we  study  Nature  under  disad- 
vantages very  similar  to  those  which  affect  the  study  of  moral  and 
political  phenomena  :  our  means  of  making  experiments  are  almost 
as  limited,  while  the  extreme  complexity  of  the  facts  makes  the  con- 
clusions of  general  reasoning  unusually  precarious,  on  account  of  the 
vast  number  of  circumstances  that  conspire  to  determine  every  result- 
Yet,  in  spite  of  these  obstacles,  it  is  found  possible  in  physiology  to 
arrive  at  a  considerable  number  of  well-ascertained  and  important 
truths.  This,  therefore,  is  an  excellent  school  in  which  to  study  the 
means  of  overcoming  similar  difficulties  elsewhere.  It  is  in  physiol- 
ogy, too,  that  we  are  first  introduced  to  some  of  the  conceptions 
which  play  the  greatest  part  in  the  moral  and  social  sciences,  but 


434  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

which  do  not  occur  at  all  in  those  of  inorganic  nature.  As,  for  in- 
stance, the  idea  of  predisposition,  and  of  predisposing  causes,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  exciting  causes.  The  operation  of  all  moral  forces 
is  immensely  influenced  by  predisposition :  without  that  element,  it  is 
impossible  to  explain  the  commonest  facts  of  history  and  social  life. 
Physiology  is  also  the  first  science  in  which  we  recognize  the  influ- 
ence of  habit— the  tendency  of  something  to  happen  again  merely 
because  it  has  happened  before.  From  physiology,  too,  we  get  our 
clearest  notion  of  what  is  meant  by  development  or  evolution.  The 
growth  of  a  plant  or  animal  from  the  first  germ  is  the  typical  speci- 
men of  a  phenomenon  which  rules  through  the  whole  course  of  the 
history  of  man  and  society — increase  of  function,  through  expansion 
and  differentiation  of  structure  by  internal  forces.  I  cannot  enter 
into  the  subject  at  greater  length  ;  it  is  enough  if  I  throw  out  hints 
which  may  be  germs  of  further  thought  in  yourselves.  Those  who 
aim  at  high  intellectual  achievements  may  be  assured  that  no  part  of 
their  time  will  be  less  wasted,  than  that  which  they  employ  in  be- 
coming familiar  with  the  methods  and  with  the  main  conceptions  of 
the  science  of  organization  and  life. 

Physiology,  at  its  upper  extremity,  touches  on  Psychology,  or  the 
Philosophy  of  Mind  ;  and  without  raising  any  disputed  questions 
about  the  limits  between  Matter  and  Spirit,  the  nerves  and  brain  are 
admitted  to  have  so  intimate  a  connection  with  the  mental  opera- 
tions, that  the  student  of  the  last  cannot  dispense  with  a  consider- 
able knowledge  of  the  first.  The  value  of  psychology  itself  need 
hardly  be  expatiated  upon  in  a  Scottish  university  ;  for  it  has  always 
been  there  studied  with  brilliant  success.  Almost  everything  which 
has  been  contributed  from  these  islands  toward  its  advancement 
since  Locke  and  Berkeley  has,  until  very  lately,  and  much  of  it  even 
in  the  present  generation,  proceeded  from  Scottish  authors  and  Scot- 
tish professors.  Psychology,  in  truth,  is  simply  the  knowledge  of  the 
laws  of  human  nature.  If  there  is  anything  that  deserves  to  be 
studied  by  man,  it  is  his  own  nature  and  that  of  his  fellow-men  :  and 
if  it  is  worth  studying  at  all,  it  is  worth  studying  scientifically,  so  as 
to  reach  the  fundamental  laws  which  underlie  and  govern  all  the  rest. 
With  regard  to  the  suitableness  of  this  subject  for  general  education, 
a  distinction  must  be  made.  There  are  certain  observed  laws  of  our 
thoughts  and  of  our  feelings  which  rest  upon  experimental  evidence, 
and,  once  seized,  are  a  clue  to  the  interpretation  of  much  that  we  are 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  435 

conscious  of  in  ourselves,  and  observe  in  one  another.  Such,  for 
example,  are  the  laws  of  association.  Psychology,  so  far  as  it 
consists  of  such  laws  (I  speak  of  the  laws  themselves,  not  of  their 
disputed  applications),  is  as  positive  and  certain  a  science  as  chemis- 
try, and  fit  to  be  taught  as  such. 

The  discipline  and  the  knowledge  conferred  by  study  of 
the  preceding  group  of  sciences  form  the  true  preparation 
for  that  higher  class  of  studies,  mental,  moral,  political,  and 
literary,  which  completes  the  course  of  a  true  liberal  educa- 
tion. Although  not  themselves  ranked  as  sciences,  these 
extensive  and  important  subjects  are  constantly  becoming 
more  and  more  scientific  in  their  conceptions  and  methods, 
and  hence  form  the  natural  sequel  of  a  systematic  scientific 
culture.  Physiology  passes  insensibly  into  psychology,  the 
central  science,  upon  which  hinge  logic,  sociology,  political 
economy,  history,  ethics,  aesthetics,  and  literature.  Mental 
phenomena  are  manifestations  of  life,  and  their  laws  are 
derivatives  of  the  laws  of  life  ;  only  throngh  a  knowledge 
of  the  former,  therefore,  is  it  possible  to  reach  a  true  un- 
derstanding of  the  latter.  Logic  treats  of  the  laws  of  evi- 
dence and  proof,  by  which  things  and  their  relations  are 
truly  represented  in  thought.*  Sociology  considers  the  re- 
lations among  human  beings  and  the  forces  which  act  upon 
them  in  society,  and  it  hence  only  becomes  possible  through 
a  prior  knowledge  of  the  vital  and  mental  organization  of 
man  ;  political  economy,  a  branch  of  this  subject,  treating 
of  industrial  and  commercial  questions,  depends  upon  the 
same  conditions.  History  is  a  record  of  the  course  of 
human  experience  in  its  multiform  phases,  and  the  key  to 
its  right  interpretation  is  that  knowledge  of  the  character 
of  the  Actor  and  the  circumstances  of  action  which  it  is  the 
prerogative  of  science  alone  to  give.  Ethics,  or  moral 
science,  determines  the  principles  which  should  guide  the 
right  ruling  of  conduct,  and  depends  upon  every  science 

*  See  page  45. 


436  Edward  "Livingston   Youmans. 

9 

which  can  throw  light  on  the  progress  of  the  intellect,  the 
evolution  of  the  emotions,  and  the  limits  of  moral  liberty 
and  responsibility  imposed  by  the  conditions  of  physical 
organization  or  social  circumstances.  ^Esthetics,  which 
regards  the  beautiful  in  Nature,  and  gives  rise  to  the  fine 
arts,  depends  upon  the  laws  of  feeling  and  sensibility.  Its 
principles  are  founded  in  the  constitution  of  human  nature, 
and  will  probably  be  yet  reduced  to  a  scientific  system.  To 
work  out  its  great  ideas  of  "  unity,"  "  harmony,"  "  propor- 
tion," and  the  laws  of  beauty,  it  awaits  a  better  psychology 
and  a  deeper  penetration  into  the  true  spirit  of  Nature. 
Literature  is  that  great  body  of  expression  of  thought 
upon  a  vast  variety  of  subjects,  the  proper  judgment  of 
which  depends  upon  the  extent  and  accuracy  of  our  knowl- 
edge of  the  truth  of  things  in  reality,  conception,  and  ex- 
pression. 

Thus  does  scientific  culture  reach  its  ultimate  and  ex- 
alted ends.  Its  course  is  along  a  line  of  connections 
which  are  causal  and  dynamic ;  its  ideas  constantly  flow- 
ing on  and  widening  out  until  they  embrace  all  the  higher 
subjects  of  human  interest  and  inquiry.  The  order  of 
dependence  of  facts  and  principles  must  here  impera- 
tively determine  the  true  order  of  study.  To  pass  directly 
from  languages  and  mathematics  to  the  complex  questions 
of  man  and  society,  is  to  violate  the  continuity  of  Nature's 
logic  ;  to  carry  false  methods  of  reasoning  and  judgment 
into  the  highest  spheres  of  thought,  and  to  provide  for 
those  errors  of  theology  and  vices  of  practice  which  are  so 
lamentably  conspicuous  in  the  management  of  social  and 
public  affairs.  Only  by  that  scientific  discipline  which 
confers  a  steadfast  faith  in  the  universality  of  law,  and 
only  as  the  discipline  of  mathematical  and  physical  studies 
is  corrected  and  amplified  by  familiarity  with  biological 
conceptions,  will  it  be  possible  to  secure  a  class  of  thinkers 
who  can  grapple  with  the  upper  grade  of  questions  in 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  437 

which  the  best  welfare  of  society  is  involved.  The  culture 
afforded  by  these  higher  subjects  is  also  varied,  copious, 
and  quickening.  They  give  breadth,  adaptiveness,  and  en- 
larged effect  to  the  discipline  of  the  preparatory  sciences, 
and  cultivate  mental  pliancy,  readiness  of  judgment,  and 
practical  sagacity. 

If  it  be  objected  that  this  scheme  is  too  vast,  I  reply, 
first,  the  student  is  not  expected  to  grasp  the  details  of 
the  various  sciences,  but  only  to  master  their  leading  prin- 
ciples. At  least  one  science,  however,  should  be  thor- 
oughly acquired  by  every  well-educated  person — should  be 
carried  into  detail,  pursued  experimentally,  and  pushed  to 
its  boundaries.  The  student  should  be  brought  face  to 
face  with  the  stem  problems  of  Nature,  and  taught  to 
wrestle  with  the  difficulties  she  offers;  only  thus  can  he 
truly  know  how  much  is  meant  by  the  word  "  truth,"  and 
get  the  discipline  that  will  give  value  to  his  other  scientific 
studies.  But  while  the  thorough  attainment  of  a  single 
science  may  serve  for  training  in  method,  it  is  highly  desir- 
able, and  in  a  mental  point  of  view  completely  possible, 
to  master  two,  say  inorganic  chemistry  and  botany.  They 
represent  separate  orders  of  scientific  truths  ;  both  are  at- 
tractive to  fascination,  and  their  opportunities  of  study  are 
universal. 

But,  secondly,  this  scheme  is  not  too  extended,  because 
its  arrangement  economizes  mental  power  in  the  highest 
degree.  Wasting  no  force  for  mere  discipline,  it  gives  the 
entire  energies  of  the  mind  to  the  direct  attainment  of 
knowledge,  while  the  natural  sequence  of  subjects,  and  the 
constant  reappearance  and  re-employment  of  old  acqui- 
sitions in  the  track  of  progress,  guarantees  a  rapidity  of 
mental  advancement  and  a  comprehensiveness  of  attain- 
ment without  parallel  in  past  experience.  With  a  rever- 
ent acquiescence  in  the  finite  limitations  of  mind,  science 
nevertheless  gives  the  clue  to  reaches  of  thought  and  splen- 


43 8  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

dours  of  achievement  which  old  routinists  regard  with  in- 
credulity. When  Nature  becomes  the  subject  of  study, 
the  love  of  Nature  its  stimulus,  and  the  order  of  Nature 
its  guide,  then  will  results  in  education  rival  the  achieve- 
ments of  Science  in  the  fields  of  its  noblest  triumphs. 

What  now  is  the  basis  of  relative  valuations  among 
subjects  of  thought  ?  These  subjects  fall  into  three  cate- 
gories— ist,  the  objects  of  Nature;  2d,  their  mental  rep- 
resentations ;  3d,  the  devices  for  marking  and  distinguish- 
ing them  ;  and  the  various  terms  employed  to  express  these 
relations  may  be  thus  exhibited  : 

The  External  World Mind Language. 

Things Ideas Words. 

Presentation Re-presentation Re-representation. 

Physics Metaphysics Philology. 

Objective  Realities Subjective  Symbols Artificial  Symbols. 

Objects  and  Relations          )  Nature's  Instruments        )  Man's  Instruments 
to  be  known )      for  the  work )      for  the  work. 

In  this  scheme  we  build  upon  the  solid  foundation  of 
objective  nature,  and  place  first  that  which  we  find  first 
in  the  order  of  the  world — the  fabric  of  being  into  which 
we  are  introduced  at  birth — which  was  here  before  we  came 
and  will  remain  when  we  are  gone.  Man's  first  and  his 
lifelong  concern  is  with  his  environment,  the  objective 
universe  of  God,  the  theatre  of  his  activity,  ownership,  am- 
bition, enjoyment,  and  the  multifarious  instrumentality  of 
his  experience  and  education.  It  is  a  realm  of  law,  and 
therefore  he  can  understand  and  control  it :  a  scene  of  irre- 
sistible forces  which  crush  him  if  he  is  ignorant,  and  serve 
him  if  he  is  wise.  But  in  what  manner  are  created  intelli- 
gences to  deal  with  the  organism  of  nature  in  which  they 
have  such  varied  and  vital  interests  ?  By  its  ideal  recrea- 
tion for  the  individual.  The  brain  duplicates  the  universe 
in  miniature ;  hence,  the  passage  from  things  to  thoughts  ; 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  439 

from  objective  realities  to  their  ideal  symbols.  We  here, 
as  it  were,  take  one  step  away  from  outward  nature  and 
enter  a  world  of  representation,  which  is  of  great  impor- 
tance to  us  because  of  the  still  greater  importance  of  that 
which  it  represents.  The  overlooking  of  this  fact  has 
been  the  error  of  ages.  Men  have  been  fascinated  with 
the  curious  phenomenon  of  mental  representation,  and  have 
dwelt  upon  it  in  utter  neglect  of  that  which  is  represented. 
Confessedly  of  high  interest,  they  have  forgotten  that  it  is 
forever  subordinate  to  the  original  order  for  which  it 
stands.  Losing  themselves  in  the  contemplation  of  this 
mystery,  metaphysicians  have  often  fallen  into  a  kind  of 
sceptical  hallucination  as  to  whether,  after  all,  there  are 
any  realities  back  of  the  ideas ;  or,  granting  an  external 
world,  they  have  held  it  to  be  of  very  trifling  account,  as 
all  its  truths  are  to  be  excogitated  from  the  realm  of  pure 
ideas.  Modern  psychology  inverts  this  order,  and  teaches 
not  only  that  a  knowledge  of  Nature  depends  upon  the 
direct  study  of  Nature,  but  that  our  knowledge  of  mind  it- 
self, of  the  relations  among  ideas,  depends  upon  our  prior 
understanding  of  the  relations  of  phenomena  and  of  the 
laws  of  action  in  the  environment.  It  was  this  danger  of 
being  beguiled  with  mere  symbols  that  called  forth  the 
sagacious  adjuration  of  Newton,  "Oh,  physics,  beware  of 
metaphysics !  "  Mr.  Mill  thus  points  out  the  mischievous 
consequences  of  the  error  in  the  case  of  logic : 

The  notion  that  what  is  of  primary  importance  to  the  logician  in 
a  proposition,  is  the  relation  between  the  two  ideas  corresponding  to 
the  subject  and  predicate  (instead  of  the  relation  between  the  two 
phenomena  which  they  respectively  express),  seems  to  me  one  of  the 
most  fatal  errors  ever  introduced  into  the  philosophy  of  logic,  and 
the  principal  cause  why  the  theory  of  the  science  has  made  such 
inconsiderable  progress  during  the  last  two  centuries.  The  treatises 
on  logic,  and  on  the  branches  of  mental  philosophy  connected  with 
logic,  which  have  been  produced  since  the  intrusion  of  this  cardinal 
error,  though  sometimes  written  by  men  of  extraordinary  abilities  and 


440  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

attainments,  almost  always  tacitly  imply  a  theory  that  the  investiga- 
tion of  truth  consists  in  contemplating  and  handling  our  ideas,  or 
conceptions  of  things  themselves  ;  a  doctrine  tantamount  to  the  as- 
sertion that  the  only  mode  of  acquiring  knowledge  of  Nature  is  to 
study  it  at  second-hand,  as  represented  in  our  own  minds.  Mean- 
while, inquiries  into  every  kind  of  natural  phenomena  were  incessantly 
establishing  great  and  fruitful  truths  on  most  important  subjects  by 
processes  upon  which  these  views  of  the  nature  of  Judgment  and 
Reasoning  threw  no  light.* 

Another  step  brings  us  to  language — the  system  of 
marks  and  labels  for  thought — the  "  signs  of  ideas."  These 
are  the  implements  furnished  by  art  for  dealing  with  ideas 
of  things.  Through  the  association  of  ideas  with  visible 
symbols,  language  becomes  the  embodiment  of  thought, 
and  there  arises  a  relation  among  words  growing  out  of  the 
relations  among  ideas,  which  again  grow  out  of  the.  rela- 
tions among  things.  Both  rest  upon  the  order  of  Nature 
which  science  reveals  ;  but  that  order  is  twice  refracted 
through  distorting  media,  and  although  the  semblance  of 
science  is  to  be  found  in  both,  yet  so  many  imperfections 
are  introduced  at  each  change,  that  we  are  only  safe  by 
keeping  the  intellectual  eye  steadily  fixed  upon  the  primal 
source  of  truth.  The  overshadowing  error  of  present  edu- 
cation is  the  propensity  to  accept  words  in  place  of  the  ideas 
and  things  for  which  they  stand,  and  from  which  they  borrow 
all  their  value.  This  false  estimate  has  been  well  character- 
ized by  the  observation  that  "  words  are  the  counters  of  wise 
men,  but  the  money  of  fools."  Of  course,  most  of  the  reali- 
ties of  knowledge  are  inaccessible  to  us  ;  we  know  them  only 
through  their  verbal  signs;  but  all  the  more  necessary  is  it 
that  we  should  never  forget  that  we  are  dealing  with  third- 
hand  representations.  Words  are  the  tools  of  the  thinker, 
which  he  must  know  how  to  handle,  or  they  are  useless  ; 
but  the  sensible  mechanic  remembers  that  his  tools  are  for 

*  Mill's  System  of  Logic,  vol.  i,  p.  98. 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  441 

nothing  but  use,  and  hence  spends  the  least  possible  time 
in  grinding  and  polishing  them.  Words  are  the  vehicles  of 
thought;  but  as  the  farmer,  who,  having  ten  thousand  dollars 
to  invest  in  his  business,  should  put  nine  thousand  of  it  in 
wagons  to  carry  his  produce  to  market,  reserving  only  one 
thousand  to  buy  a  farm,  would  be  justly  chargeable  with 
stupidity,  so  the  student  who  invests  the  principal  share  of 
his  time  and  power  in  variously  constructed  vehicles  of 
thought,  with  a  corresponding  neglect  of  what  they  are  to 
carry,  is  chargeable  with  an  analogous  folly.  So  much 
of  the  study  of  language,  and  in  such  forms  as  are  neces- 
sary to  its  intelligent  use,  is  demanded  in  education ;  but 
while  this  places  the  study  upon  explicit  grounds  of  utility, 
by  the  principle  of  utility  should  it  be  limited.  But  the 
lingual  student,  captivated  by  the  interest  of  word  studies, 
loses  the  end  in  the  means.  A  plough  was  sent  to  a  bar- 
barian tribe :  they  hung  it  over  with  ornaments,  and  fell 
down  and  worshipped  it.  In  much  the  same  manner  is 
language  treated  in  education.* 

The  old  scholasticism  sported  with  symbols,  ideal  and 
verbal ;  science  makes  a  serious  inquest  into  the  reali- 
ties for  which  they  stand.  The  greatest  secular  event  in 
history  was  this  inversion  of  values  among  subjects  of 
thought,  and  the  rise  of  science  and  conquest  of  Nature 
which  followed ;  and  an  event  of  no  less  moment  will  be 
the  carrying  out  of  this  great  intellectual  movement  in 
education. 

As  respects  discipline,  these  considerations  present  the 
question  thus:  Shall  it  consist  in  the  mere  futile  flourish- 
ing of  the  instruments  of  inquiry,  or  shall  it  be  obtained 

*  "  There  is  no  study  that  could  prove  more  successful  in  producing 
often  thorough  idleness  and  vacancy  of  mind,  parrot-like  repetition  and 
sing-song  knowledge,  to  the  abeyance  and  destruction  of  the  intellectual 
powers,  as  well  as  to  the  loss  and  paralysis  of  the  outward  senses,  than  our 
traditional  study  and  idolatry  of  language." — Prof.  Halford  Vaughan. 


442  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

by  their  employment  upon  the  ends  for  which  they  are  de- 
signed ? 

In  this  discussion  I  use  the  term  Science  in  its  true  and 
largest  meaning,  which  is  nothing  less  than  a  right  inter- 
pretation of  Nature — a  comprehension  of  the  workings  of* 
law  wherever  law  prevails.  Knowledge  grows.  Its  germs 
are  found  in  the  lowest  grades  of  ignorance,  and  develop 
first  into  the  improved  form  of  common  information,  which 
then  unfolds  into  the  definite  and  perfected  condition  of 
science.  It  matters  nothing  whether  the  subjects  are  stones 
or  stars,  human  souls,  or  the  complications  of  social  rela- 
tion ;  that  most  perfect  knowledge  of  each  which  reveals 
its  uniformities  constitutes  its  special  science,  and  that 
comprehensive  view  of  the  relations  which  each  sustains  to 
all  in  the  cosmical  order,  realizes  the  broadest  import  of  the 
conception.  Science,  therefore,  is  the  revelation  to  reason 
of  the  policy  by  which  God  administers  the  affairs  of  the 
world.  But  how  inadequate  is  the  conception  of  it  general- 
ly entertained,  even  among  men  of  eminent  literary  cultiva- 
tion, who  seem  to  think  the  highest  object  of  understanding 
the  things  of  Nature  is  merely  to  slake  a  petty  curiosity!* 

*  Mr.  Carlyle  writes  :  "  For  many  years  it  has  been  one  of  my  constant 
regrets,  that  no  schoolmaster  of  mine  had  a  knowledge  of  natural  history, 
so  far  at  least  as  to  have  taught  me  the  grasses  that  grow  by  the  wayside, 
and  the  little  winged  and  wingless  neighbours  that  are  continually  meeting 
me,  with  a  salutation  which  I  cannot  answer,  as  things  are  !  Why  didn't 
somebody  teach  me  the  constellations,  too,  and  make  me  at  home  in  the 
starry  heavens,  which  are  always  overhead,  and  which  I  don't  half  know 
to  this  day  ?  I  love  to  prophesy  that  there  will  come  a  time,  when  not  in 
Edinburgh  only,  but  in  all  Scottish  and  European  towns  and  villages,  the 
schoolmaster  will  be  strictly  required  to  possess  these  two  capabilities 
(neither  Greek  nor  Latin  more  strict !),  and  that  no  ingenuous  little  denizen 
of  this  universe  be  thenceforward  debarred  from  his  right  of  liberty  in 
these  two  departments,  and  doomed  to  look  on  them  as  if  across  grated 
fences  all  his  life  !  "  No  hint  is  here  given  of  that  transcendent  order  of 
truth  to  which  surrounding  objects  are  but  the  portals. 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  443 

A  common  form  of  misapprehension  is  that  which  limits 
science  to  the  consideration  of  "  mere  matter,"  and  then 
reproaches  it  with  being  a  cold  materializing  pursuit.  But 
science  deals  with  forces  as  well  as  matter  ;  and  when  those 
who  make  this  reproach  will  indicate  just  how  much  re- 
mains when  the  actions  of  power  upon  matter  are  exhausted, 
they  will,  perhaps,  widen  their  conceptions  upon  the  sub- 
ject. Not  only  do  the  great  lines  of  scientific  thought  con- 
verge to  the  supreme  end  of  elucidating  the  regnant  sub- 
jects of  man  and  society,  but  its  influence  is  powerfully  felt 
even  in  the  highest  regions  of  philosophical  speculation.* 

*  Prof.  Masson,  in  his  lively  little  work,  Recent  British  Philosophy, 
remarks :  "  In  no  age  so  conspicuously  as  in  our  own  has  there  been  a 
crowding  in  of  new  scientific  conceptions  of  all  kinds  to  exercise  a  perturb- 
ing influence  on  Speculative  Philosophy.  They  have  come  in  almost  too 
fast  for  Philosophy's  powers  of  reception.  She  has  visibly  reeled  amid 
their  shocks,  and  has  not  yet  recovered  her  equilibrium.  Within  those 
years  alone  which  we  have  been  engaged  in  surveying  there  have  been  de- 
velopments of  native  British  science,  not  to  speak  of  influxes  of  scientific 
ideas,  hints,  and  probabilities  from  without,  in  the  midst  of  which  British 
Philosophy  has  looked  about  her,  scared  and  bewildered;  and  has  felt  that 
some  of  her  oldest  statements  about  herself,  and  some  of  the  most  impor- 
tant terms  in  her  vocabulary,  require  re-explication.  I  think  that  I  can 
even  mark  the  precise  year  1848  as  a  point  whence  the  appearance  of  an 
unusual  amount  of  unsteadying  thought  may  be  dated — as  if,  in  that  year  of 
simultaneous  European  irritability,  not  only  were  the  nations  agitated 
politically,  as  the  newspapers  saw,  but  conceptions  of  an  intellectual  kind 
that  had  long  been  forming  themselves  underneath  in  the  depths  were  shaken 
up  to  the  surface  in  scientific  journals  and  books.  There  are  several  vital 
points  on  which  no  one  can  now  think,  even  were  he  receiving  four  thou- 
sand a  year  for  doing  so,  as  he  might  very  creditably  have  thought  seventeen 
years  ago.  There  have  been  during  that  period,  in  consequence  of  revela- 
tions by  scientific  research  in  this  direction  and  in  that,  some  most  notable 
enlargements  of  our  views  of  physical  nature  and  of  history — enlargements 
even  to  the  breaking  down  of  what  had  formerly  been  a  wall  in  the  minds 
of  most,  and  the  substitution  on  that  side  of  a  sheer  vista  of  open  space. 
But  there  is  no  need  of  dating  from  1848,  or  from  any  other  year  in  par- 
ticular. In  all  that  we  have  recently  seen  of  the  kind  there  has  been  but 


444  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

Yet  it  is  by  denying  this,  and  insisting  that  science  consists 
in  collecting  stones,  labelling  plants,  and  dabbling  in  chem- 
ical messes,  that  the  adherents  of  tradition  strive  to  ren- 
der it  obnoxious  to  popular  prejudice.  In  defending  the 
policy  of  the  Great  English  Schools  which  contemptuously 
ignore  almost  the  whole  body  of  modern  knowledge,  the 
able  Head-master  of  Rugby  puts  the  case  on  the  explicit 
ground  that  science  deals  only  with  the  lower  utilities, 
while  classical  studies  carry  us  up  to  the  sphere  of  life  and 
man  ;  that  science  only  instructs,  while  they  humanize.  But 
we  have  seen  that  such  a  view  is  indefensible.  Science  be- 
ing the  most  perfect  form  of  thought,  and  man  its  proper 
subject,  the  sharply  defined  question  is,  whether  he  is  to  be 
studied  by  the  lower  or  the  higher  method.  Is  the  most 
thorough  acquaintance  with  humanity  to  be  gained  by  cut- 
ting the  student  off  from  the  life  of  his  own  age,  and  set- 
ting him  to  tunnel  through  dead  languages,  to  get  such 
imperfect  and  distorted  glimpses  as  he  may  of  man  and  so- 
ciety in  their  antiquated  forms;  or  by  equipping  him  with 
the  best  resources  of  modern  thought,  and  putting  him  to 
the  direct  and  systematic  study  of  men  and  society  as  they 
present  themselves  to  observation  and  experience  ?  In  all 
other  departments  it  is  held  desirable,  as  far  as  possible,  to 
place  directly  before  the  student  his  materials  of  inquiry  : 
why  abandon  the  principle  in  the  case  of  its  highest  appli- 
cation ? 

Our  question  thus  assumes  another  aspect :  for  the  best 
discipline  of  the  human  mind,  shall  we  make  use  of  those 
higher  forms  and  completer  methods  of  knowledge  which 
constitute  the  science  of  the  present  age,  or  shall  we  use 
the  lower  and  looser  knowledge  and  cruder  methods  of 
the  past  ? 

the  prolongation  of  an  action  from  Science  upon  Philosophy  that  had  been 
going  on  for  a  considerable  time  before." 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  445 

Science  also  has  great  advantage,  as  a  means  of  mental 
discipline,  in  the  incentives  to  which  it  appeals  for  arousing 
mental  activity,  its  motives  to  effort  being  such  as  the 
pupil  can  be  made  most  readily  to  appreciate  and  feel. 
The  reasons  for  studying  the  dead  languages  are  not  such 
as  to  act  with  inspiring  force  upon  beginners :  hence 
motives  to  exertion  have  largely  to  be  supplied  by  external 
authority,  which  necessitates  in  the  school  discipline  a  de- 
cided coercive  element,  while  those  who  administer  it, 
having  little  sympathy  with  "  new-light  "  notions  about 
making  study  pleasurable,  lighten  the  student's  tasks  by 
the  enlivening  assurance  that  wearisome  toil  is  evermore 
the  price  of  great  results. 

This  is  the  old  ascetic  misconception  of  the  controlling 
aims  of  life — false  everywhere,  fatal  in  education.  The 
free  and  healthy  exercise  of  the  faculties  and  functions  is 
so  pleasurable  as  to  be  universally  spoken  of  as  a  "  play  " ; 
who,  then,  has  the-right  to  turn  it  into  dreary  and  repulsive 
task  work  ?  The  love  of  enjoyment  is  the  deepest  and 
most  powerful  impulse  of  our  nature,  and  the  educational 
system  which  does  not  recognize  and  build  upon  it  violates 
the  highest  claim  of  that  nature.  The  first  thing  to  be 
done  by  the  teacher  is  to  awaken  the  pupil's  interest,  to 
engage  his  sympathies  and  kindle  his  enthusiasm,  for  these 
are  the  motors  of  intellectual  progress;  it  is  then  easy  to 
enchain  his  attention,  to  store  his  mind  with  knowledge, 
and  carry  mental  cultivation  up  to  the  point  of  discipline. 

This  is  of  the  first  importance.  Flogging  has  been  the 
accompaniment  of  education  for  centuries;  and  although 
the  humanizing  agencies  are  slowly  bringing  us  out  of  this 
barbaric  dispensation,  yet  the  penal  policy,  or  that  which 
makes  the  fear  of  pain,  in  one  shape  or  other,  the  chief 
incentive  to  effort,  is  still  prevalent.  This  not  only  ap- 
peals to  the  lowest  motives,  but  is  self-defeating.  Pain- 
ful feelings  are  antivital,  depressing,  fatal  to  mental  spon- 


446  Edivard  Livingston   Youmans. 

taneity,  and  therefore  a  hindrance  to  acquisition  :  agreeable 
emotions,  on  the  other  hand,  are  stimulating,  and  favour 
nervous  impressibility  and  spontaneous  impulsion.  The 
instinctive  love  of  pleasurable  activity  which  is  so  marked 
in  youth  becomes  therefore  a  most  powerful  means  of  men- 
tal improvement.  Government  appeals  to  the  dread  of 
punishment  as  a  motive  to  right  conduct ;  but  who  will 
compare  the  influence  it  thus  exerts  upon  the  beneficent 
activities  of  society  with  the  general  stimulation  to  this 
result  which  springs  from  the  desire  of  happiness  ?  A 
scientific  system  of  culture,  which  deals  with  the  imme- 
diate objects  and  the  living  agencies  of  the  world,  is  suited 
to  employ  this  higher  class  of  motives.  The  interest  of  an 
unperverted  mind  in  the  things  of  twenty  centuries  ago  can 
never  equal  its  interest  in  the  things  of  to-day.  It  can- 
not for  a  moment  be  admitted  that  an  empty  and  useless 
shell  of  a  fact  has  the  same  relation  to  the  mind  that  a  liv- 
ing and  applicable  one  has.  Nothing  can  arouse,  quicken, 
and  mould  it  like  the  realities  with  which  it  has  to  deal.  It 
has  been  well  said  that  "  everywhere  throughout  nature  we 
find  faculties  developed  through  the  performance  of  those 
functions  which  it  is  their  office  to  perform,  not  through 
artificial  exercises  devised  to  fit  them  for  those  functions." 
A  system  of  culture,  therefore,  which  ignores  the  thou- 
sand immediate  pressures  and  solicitations  upon  feeling  and 
thought,  by  which  human  beings  are  stirred,  can  neither 
shape  the  mind  into  harmony  with  its  actual  circumstances, 
nor  reach  the  deepest  springs  of  impulse  and  exertion. 
The  intellect  follows  the  lead  of  the  heart;  and  with  the 
slow  emergence  of  right  ideas  respecting  the  uses  of  the 
world,  we  shall  discover  that  the  real  scene  of  human 
action  and  enjoyment  is  also  the  true  source  of  inspiration 
and  of  the  noblest  incentives  to  effort.  The  end  of  a 
rational  culture  being  to  adjust  the  student's  relations  to 
his  own  age,  it  will  employ  for  the  purpose  all  those  sub- 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  447 

jects  which  come  home  to  him  most  directly;  and  that 
these  are  best  fitted  for  rousing  and  sustaining  a  pleasur- 
able mental  activity  is  both  declared  by  reason  and  con- 
firmed by  experience. 

And  this  leads  me  finally  to  observe  that  a  mental  cul- 
ture, based  upon  science,  and  applied  to  the  great  questions 
of  the  time,  will  give  a  type  of  mental  discipline  marked 
by  the  elements  of  vigour  and  courage,  and  suited  to  brace 
the  mind  for  the  serious  work  which  comes  before  it  with 
the  advance  of  society.  In  this  respect  the  classical  cul- 
tivation is  so  faulty  as  hardly  to  deserve  the  name  of  dis- 
cipline. Its  ideal  is  European,  and  is  shaped  into  accord- 
ance with  the  requirements  of  the  European  system  :  it  is 
that  of  the  refined  and  elegant  scholar,  fitted  for  medita- 
tive retirement  in  some  cloistered  seclusion  or  "  sacred 
shade,"  immersed  in  the  past,  and  disinclined  to  meddle 
with  the  present.  But  what  Sydney  Smith  calls  "  the  safe 
and  elegant  imbecility  of  classical  learning,"  is  not  the 
preparation  needed  by  the  cultivated  mind  of  this  country. 
Here  all  the  cumbrous  machinery  for  taking  care  of  people 
and  superseding  thought — Monarchy,  Nobility,  and  State- 
Church,  are  gone,  and  we  are  thrown  back  upon  first  prin- 
ciples, to  work  out  the  great  problem  of  a  self-governing 
society,  for  weal  or  for  woe.  The  finished  classical 
scholar  blinks  the  issues,  and  shirks  the  responsibilities  of 
his  time.  He  is  disgusted  with  the  "  noise  and  confusion  " 
of  this  degenerate  utilitarian  age,  and  longs  to  bury  him- 
self in  the  quietness  of  the  past.  "  In  proportion  as  the 
material  interests  of  the  present  moment  become  more  and 
more  engrossing,  more  and  more  tyrannical  in  their  ex- 
actions, in  the  same  proportion  it  becomes  more  necessary 
that  man  should  fall  back  on  the  common  interests  of 
humanity,  and  free  himself  from  the  trammels  of  the 
present  by  living  in  the  past,"  says  the  advocate  of  the 
English  universities,  Dr.  Donaldson.  But  this  will  not  do 


448  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

here.  Not  to  "  fall  back,"  but  to  press  forward  should  be 
the  motto  of  American  education.  Not  to  escape  the 
present  and  live  in  the  past,  but  resolutely  to  accept  the 
presept,  thanking  God  for  its  opportunities,  and  to  live 
rather  in  the  future,  is  the  high  requirement  of  mental 
duty.  And  herein  is  the  character  of  the  two  systems 
shown,  that  while  the  one  looks  forever  backward,  the 
other  leads  steadfastly  forward.  Science,  therefore,  pierc- 
ing the  future,  and  working  toward  it  through  the  pres- 
ent, engages  naturally  with  those  great  subjects  of  pub- 
lic interest  which  are  no  longer  to  be  postponed  or 
evaded. 

The  classicists  are  fond  of  presenting  the  issue  as  be- 
tween liberal  culture  and  money-making,  and  triumphantly 
contrast  the  refined  and  generous  feelings  which  cluster 
around  the  former,  with  the  vulgar  and  sordid  motives 
which  characterize  the  latter.  But  the  real  issue  is  far 
different  from  this.  The  mind  of  our  age  is  confronted 
with  a  host  of  urgent  questions,  such  as  the  Perils  of  Mis- 
government,  the  Limits  of  Legislation,  the  Management 
of  Criminals,  of  the  Insane,  the  Congenitally  Defective, 
and  the  Pauper  Class ;  the  operation  of  Charities,  the 
Philosophy  of  Philanthropy,  the  relations  of  Sex  and 
Race,  International  Ethics,  the  Freedom  of  Trade,  the 
Rights  of  Industry,  Property  in  Ideas,  Public  Hygiene, 
Primary  Education,  Religious  Liberty,  the  Rights  of  In- 
vention, Political  Representation,  and  many  others,  which 
inosculate  and  interfuse  into  the  great  total  of  practical 
inquiry  which  challenges  the  intellect  of  our  times;  and  it 
is  this  which  the  classical  scholar  evades,  when  he  shrinks 
from  the  present  and  retires  into  the  past.  And  well  he 
may ;  for  the  mastery  of  the  languages  and  literatures  of 
Greece  and  Rome,  and  culture  in  unprogressive  studies, 
furnish  neither  suitable  ideas  nor  mental  habits  for  this 
kind  of  work.  Science,  grounding  itself  in  the  order  and 


Mental  Discipline  in  Education.  449 

truth  of  Nature,  armed  with  the  appropriate  knowledge,  and 
inspired  with  the  hope  of  a  better  future,  to  which  it  sees 
all  things  tending,  enters  the  great  field  as  properly  its 
own,  and  will  train  its  votaries  to  that  breadth  of  view,  that 
robust  boldness  of  treatment,  and  that  patient  and  dispas- 
sionate temper  which  the  imminent  questions  of  the  times 
so  decisively  demand. 

In  his  late  instructive  lecture  on  the  Development  of 
Ideas  in  Physical  Science,  Prof.  Liebig  shows  that  it  has 
been  a  slow  organic  growth,  depending  upon  deeper  con- 
ditions than  the  mere  favour  or  opposition  of  Church  or 
State.  He  shows  that  in  Greece  the  progress  of  science 
was  arrested  by  its  slave  system  ;  points  out  the  necessity 
of  abounding  wealth  to  give  leisure  for  thought  and  cul- 
ture, and  the  importance  of  those  social  conditions  which 
bring  into  intimate  intercourse  all  classes  of  thinkers  and 
workers,  upon  the  mutual  co-operation  of  which  the  ad- 
vance of  science  and  of  society  depends.  He  says  :  "  Free- 
dom, that  is  the  absence  of  ail  restrictions  which  can  pre- 
vent men  from  using  to  their  advantage  the  powers  which  God 
has  given  them,  is  the  mightiest  of  all  the  conditions  of 
progress  in  civilization  and  culture";  and  he  adds  that  "it 
can  hardly  be  doubted  that  among  the  peoples  of  the  North 
American  Free  States,  all  the  conditions  exist  for  their  de- 
velopment to  the  highest  point  of  culture  and  civilization 
attainable  by  man." 

These  are  weighty  considerations  for  the  educators  of 
this  country.  Institutions  are  but  expressions  of  ideas  and 
habits ;  and  the  European  policy,  governmental  and  eccle- 
siastical, is  grounded  upon  a  culture  suited  to  its  neces- 
sities, and  which  has  grown  up  with  it  in  the  course  of 
ages.  Both  idolize  the  past ;  both  worship  precedent  and 
authority,  and  both  dread  independent  inquiry  into  first 
principles:  one  recoils  from  Freedom,  as  the  other  from 
Science.  Freedom  and  Science,  on  the  other  hand,  have 


45O  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

had  a  coeval  destiny ;  have  suffered  together,  and  grown 
together.  Both  break  from  prescription  and  throw  them- 
selves upon  Nature,  and  the  watchword  of  both  is  Progress, 
which  consists  not  in  rejecting  the  past,  but  in  subordinat- 
ing and  outgrowing  it,  in  assimilating  and  reorganizing  its 
truth,  and  leaving  behind  its  obsolete  forms.  In  the  last 
century  we  threw  off  the  trammels  of  the  repressive  sys- 
tem, and  entered  upon  the  experiment  of  Free  Institutions  ; 
but  it  avails  little  to  shift  the  external  forms  if  the  old  ideas 
are  not  replaced  by  new  growths  of  thought  and  feeling. 
Our  system  of  Popular  Education  is  the  first  great  construc- 
tive measure  of  National  progress,  and  this  has  yet  to  be 
moulded  to  its  purposes  through  a  system  of  higher  institu- 
tions, organized  into  harmony  with  the  genius  of  American 
circumstances  and  the  great  requirements  of  the  period. 


In  the  preceding  pages  I  have  quoted  Mr.  J.  S.  Mill's 
able  presentation  of  the  claims  of  Scientific  Studies;  but 
lest  I  be  accused  of  partiality  in  the  use  of  his  authority, 
it  is  proper  to  add  that  in  the  same  address  he  makes  also 
a  strong  argument  for  the  Classics.  It  is  not  pertinent 
here  to  criticise  this  branch  of  his  argument,  as  the  claims 
of  the  classics  are  put  less  on  the  usual  ground  of  "  disci- 
pline" than  on  certain  high  utilities  of  scholarship.  But 
while,  as  the  reader  has  seen,  Mr.  Mill  urges  the  impor- 
tance of  Scientific  Studies  for  all,  an  examination  of  his 
argument  for  the  Classics  will  show  that  it  is  applicable 
only  to  those  who,  like  himself,  are  professional  scholars, 
and  devote  their  lives  to  Philological,  Historical,  or  Critical 
Studies. 


II. 


ON   THE  SCIENTIFIC  STUDY  OF  HUMAN 
NATURE. 

PERHAPS  the  most  correct  conception  of  science  that 
has  yet  been  formed  is  that  which  regards  it  as  the  high- 
est stage  of  growing  knowledge.  Ideas  about  men,  like 
those  about  other  subjects,  undergo  development.  There 
is  a  rude  acquaintance  with  human  nature  among  barba- 
rians :  they  observe  that  the  young  can  be  trained,  and  that 
men  are  influenced  by  motives  and  passions;  for  without 
some  such  knowledge  their  limited  social  relations  would 
be  impossible.  These  primitive  notions  have  been  gradu- 
ally unfolded  by  time  into  the  completer  and  more  accurate 
ideas  which  mark  the  civilized  state.  Yet  the  prevailing 
knowledge  of  human  nature  is  still  imperfect  and  empir- 
ical— that  is,  it  has  not  expanded  into  rational  principles 
and  general  laws.  That  it  will  become  still  more  perfect 
accords  with  all  analogy ;  and  if  this  process  continues,  as 
it  undoubtedly  must,  there  seems  reasonable  hope  of  the 
formation  of  something  like  a  definite  Science  of  Human 
Nature. 

That  the  scientific  method  of  inquiry  is  inadequate  and 
inapplicable  to  the  higher  study  of  man,  is  a  widely  preva- 
lent notion,  and  one  which  seems,  to  a  great  extent,  to  be 
shared  alike  by  the  ignorant  and  the  educated.  Holding 
the  crude  idea  that  science  pertains  only  to  the  material 
world,  they  denounce  all  attempts  to  make  human  nature  a 
subject  of  strict  scientific  inquiry,  as  an  intrusion  into  an 
illegitimate  sphere.  Maintaining  that  man's  position  is 

(451) 


452  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

supreme  and  exceptional,  they  insist  that  he  is  only  to  be 
comprehended,  if  at  all,  in  some  partial,  peculiar,  and  tran- 
scendental way.  In  entire  consistence  with  this  hypothesis, 
is  the  prevailing  practice;  for  those  who  by  their  function 
as  teachers,  preachers,  and  lawgivers,  profess  to  have  that 
knowledge  of  man  which  best  qualifies  for  directing  him  in 
all  relations,  are,  as  a  class,  confessedly  ignorant  of  science. 
There  are  some,  however,  and  happily  their  number  is  in- 
creasing, who  hold  that  this  idea  is  profoundly  erroneous, 
that  the  very  term  "  human  nature  "  indicates  man's  place 
in  that  universal  order  which  it  is  the  proper  office  of 
science  to  explore  ;  and  they  accordingly  maintain  that  it 
is  only  as  "the  servant  and  interpreter  of  nature  "  that  he 
can  rise  to  anything  like  a  true  understanding  of  himself. 

The  past  progress  of  knowledge,  as  is  well  known,  has 
not  been  a  steady  and  continuous  growth  :  it  has  advanced 
by  epochs.  An  interval  of  apparent  rest,  perhaps  long 
protracted,  is  brought  to  a  close  by  the  introduction  of 
some  new  conception,  which  revolutionizes  a  department 
of  thought,  and  opens  new  fields  of  investigation,  that  lead 
to  uncalculated  consequences.  Those  who  have  watched 
the  later  tendencies  of  scientific  thought  can  hardly  fail  to 
perceive,  tjiat  we  of  the  present  age  are  entering  upon  one 
of  those  great  epochs  in  our  knowledge  of  man.  Standing 
at  the  head  of  the  vast  system  of  being  of  which  he  forms 
a  part,  it  is  inevitable  that  the  views  entertained  concern- 
ing him  at  any  age  will  be  but  a  reflex  of  the  knowledge  of 
nature  which  that  age  has  reached.  So  long  as  little  was 
known  of  the  order  of  the  universe,  little  could  be  under- 
stood of  him  in  whom  that  order  culminates.  Those  tri- 
umphs of  science  which  are  embodied  in  external  civiliza- 
tion are  well  fitted  to  kindle  our  admiration ;  but  they  are 
of  secondary  moment  when  compared  with  the  consequences 
which  must  flow  from  the  full  application  of  the  scientific 
method  to  the  study  of  man  himself. 


On  the  Scientific  Study  of  Human  Nature.      453 

The  method  of  regarding  man  which  tradition  has  trans- 
mitted to  us  from  the  earliest  ages,  is,  at  the  outset,  to 
cleave  him  asunder,  and  substitute  the  idea  of  two  beings 
for  the  reality  of  one.  Having  thus  introduced  the  notion 
of  his  double  nature — mind  and  body  as  separate  independ- 
ent existences — there  grew  up  a  series  of  moral  contrasts 
between  the  disjointed  products.  The  mind  was  ranked  as 
the  higher,  or  spiritual  nature,  the  body  as  the  lower,  or 
material  nature.  The  mind  was  said  to  be  pure,  aspiring, 
immaterial ;  the  body  gross,  corrupt,  and  perishable ;  and 
thus  the  feelings  became  enlisted  to  widen  the  breach  and 
perpetuate  the  antagonism.  Having  divided  him  into  two 
alien  entities,  and  sought  all  terms  of  applause  to  celebrate 
the  one,  while  exhausting  the  vocabulary  of  reproach  upon 
the  other,  the  fragments  were  given  over  to  two  parties — 
the  body  to  the  doctors  of  medicine,  and  the  spirit  to  the 
doctors  of  philosophy,  who  seem  to  have  agreed  in  but  one 
thing>  that  the  partition  shall  be  eternal,  and  that  neither 
shall  ever  intrude  into  the  domain  of  the  other. 

As  a  necessary  consequence  of  this  rupture,  the  living 
reality,  as  a  subject  of  study,  disappeared  from  view,  and 
the  dignified  fraction  was  substituted  in  its  place.  Not 
man,  but  mind,  became  the  object  of  inquiry.  With  the  dis- 
appearance of  the  actual  being,  went  also  the  conception  of 
individuality,  and  there  remained  only  mind  as  an  abstraction, 
to  be  considered  as  literally  out  of  all  true  relations  as  if 
the  material  universe  had  never  existed.  The  method  thus 
begun  has  been  closely  pursued,  and  for  thousands  of  years 
the  chief  occupation  of  philosophic  thought  has  been  to 
speculate  upon  the  nature  and  operations  of  mind  as  mani- 
fested in  consciousness.  Admitting  the  legitimacy  of  the 
inquiry,  and  that  it  has  to  a  certain  extent  yielded  valid 
results,  it  is  clear  that  the  effect  of  the  divorce  was  fatally 
to  narrow  the  course  of  investigation  and  to  prevent  all 
free  and  thorough  research  into  the  reality  of  the  case  ; 


454  Edward  Livingston   Youinans. 

thus  justifying  the  charge,  of  emptiness  and  fruitlessness 
which  is  now  so  extensively  made  against  metaphysical 
studies.  From  Plato  to  Sir  William  Hamilton,  who  in- 
scribed upon  the  walls  of  his  lecture  room,  "  On  earth  there 
is  nothing  great  but  man;  in  man  there  is  nothing  great  but 
mind"  a  method  has  been  pursued  so  confessedly  vacant 
of  valuable  results,  that  its  partisans  have  actually  denied 
the  attainment  of  truth  ,to  be  their  object:  declaring  that 
the  supreme  aim  of  philosophy  is  nothing  more  than  to  serve 
as  a  means  of  intellectual  gymnastics.* 

In  pointed  contrast  with  this  view  is  the  method  of 
modern  science.  In  a  spirit  of  reverence  for  the  order  and 
harmony  of  Nature  where  all  factitious  distinctions  of  great 
and  small  disappear  ;  striving  to  dispossess  herself  of  preju- 
dice, and  to  aim  only  at  the  attainment  of  truth ;  rejecting 
all  assumptions  which  can  show  no  better  warrant  than  that 
they  were  made  in  the  infancy  of  the  race,  she  begins  with 
the  simple  examination  of  facts,  and  rises  patiently  and 
cautiously  to  the  knowledge  of  principles.  The  study  of 
man  is  entered  upon  in  the  same  temper,  and  by  the  same 
methods,  that  have  conducted  to  truth  in  other  depart- 
ments of  investigation.  Finding  the  notion  of  his  duality, 
as  interpreted  in  the  past,  with  its  resulting  double  series 
of  independent  inquiries,  to  be  erroneous,  science  proceeds 
at  the  outset  to  reunite  the  dissevered  fragments  of  hu- 
manity, and  to  reconstitute  the  individual  in  thought  as 
he  is  in  life,  a  concrete  unit — the  living,  thinking,  acting 
being  which  we  encounter  in  daily  experience.  It  is  now 
established  that  the  dependence  of  thought  upon  organic 
conditions  is  so  intimate  and  absolute,  that  they  can  no 
longer  be  considered  except  as  unity.  Man,  as  a  prob- 
lem of  study,  is  simply  an  organism  of  varied  powers  and 
activities;  and  the  true  office  of  scientific  inquiry  is  to 

*  See  the  opening  lectures  of  Hamilton's  Metaphysics. 


On  the  Scientific  Study  of  Human  Nature.      455 

determine  the  mechanism,  modes,  and  laws  of  its  ac- 
tion. 

My  purpose,  on  the  present  occasion,  is  to  show  that  the 
doctrine  which  has  prevailed  in  the  past,  and  still  prevails, 
is  doomed  to  complete  inversion ;  that  the  bodily  organism 
which  was  so  long  neglected  as  of  no  account,  is  in  reality 
the  first  and  fundamental  thing  to  be  considered ;  and  that, 
in  reaching  a  knowledge  of  mind  and  character  through  the 
study  of  the  corporeal  system,  there  has  been  laid  the  firm 
foundation  of  that  Science  of  Human  Nature,  the  comple- 
tion of  which  will  constitute  the  next  and  highest  phase  in 
the  progress  of  man.  Of  course,  so  vast  a  subject  can  re- 
ceive but  scanty  justice  in  the  limits  of  a  lecture:  the  ut- 
most that  I  can  hope  to  do  will  be  to  present  some  decisive 
illustrations  of  the  dependence  of  mental  action  upon  the 
bodily  system,  and  to  point  out  certain  important  results 
which  have  been  already  arrived  at  by  this  method  of  in- 
quiry. A  hasty  glance,  in  the  first  place,  at  the  several 
steps  by  which  it  has  been  reached,  will  help  to  an  under- 
standing of  the  present  state  of  knowledge  upon  the  sub- 
ject. 

The  establishment  of  the  modern  doctrine,  that  the 
brain  is  the  organ  of  the  mind,  naturally  led  to  a  train  of 
researches  into  the  conditions  of  the  connection.  The  in- 
strument of  thought,  being  a  part  of  the  living  system,  is, 
of  course,  subject  to  its  laws,  and  our  understanding  of  its 
action  becomes  dependent  upon  the  progress  of  physio- 
logical knowledge.  Physiology,  again,  depending  upon  the 
various  physical  sciences,  the  higher  investigation  could 
proceed  only  with  the  general  advance  of  inquiry.  The 
discovery  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood  laid  the  founda- 
tion for  the  modern  science  of  physiology ;  but  that  dis- 
covery did  not  reach  its  full  significance  until  chemistry 
had  revealed  the  constitution  of  matter,  and  the  reciprocal 
action  of  its  elements :  only  then  was  it  possible  to  arrive 


456  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

at  the  great  organic  laws  of  waste  and  repair,  of  digestion, 
nutrition,  and  respiration.  The  brain,  in  its  functional 
exercise,  was  found  to  depend,  equally  with  all  other  living 
parts,  upon  these  processes.  The  discovery  of  the  minuter 
structure  of  the  brain  resulted  from  the  application  of  the 
perfected  microscope.  Its  grey  matter  was  found  to  con- 
sist of  cells,  and  the  white  substance  of  fibres  of  amazing 
minuteness — the  cells  being  regarded  as  the  sources  of 
nerve  power,  while  the  fibres  serve  as  lines  for  its  dis- 
charge. 

When  a  tolerably  clear  conception  of  the  structure  of 
the  nervous  system  had  been  reached,  physiology  imme- 
diately propounded  the  question  of  its  mode  of  action. 
The  first  decisive  response  was  made  a  number  of  years 
ago,  by  Sir  Charles  Bell,  who  found  that  there  are  two 
great  systems  of  nerves,  which  perform  different  functions ; 
one  conveying  impressions  from  the  surface  of  the  body  to 
the  centres,  and  another  transmitting  impulses  from  the 
centres  to  the  muscles,  and  thus  controlling  mechanical 
movement.  This  discovery  was  of  the  gravest  importance. 
It  had  been  contemptuously  asked,  What  has  anatomy  to 
do  with  mind  ?  Bell  silenced  this  cavilling  forever  by 
showing  that  it  first  revealed  a  definite  mental  mechanism, 
and  traced  out  some  of  the  fundamental  conditions  of  the 
working  of  mind. 

A  few  years  later,  Dr.  Marshall  Hall  made  another  very 
important  step  in  determining  the  organic  conditions  of 
mental  activity,  by  the  discovery  of  the  independent  action 
of  the  spinal  cord.  It  had  hitherto  been  held  that  the 
brain  was  the  sole  seat  of  nervous  power.  All  impressions 
were  supposed  to  be  conducted  directly  to  it,  and  all  man- 
dates to  the  muscles  to  issue  from  it ;  and  as  the  brain  was 
the  seat  of  consciousness  and  volition,  these  operations  were 
thought  to  be  essentially  involved  in  every  bodily  action. 
But  Dr.  Hall  demonstrated  that  the  spinal  cord  is  itself  a 


On  the  Scientific  Study  of  Human  Nature.      457 

chain  of  nerve  centres,  and  that  impressions  reaching  it 
from  the  surface  through  the  sensory  nerves  may  be  im- 
mediately reflected  back,  through  the  motor  nerves,  upon 
the  muscles,  thus  producing  bodily  movements,  without  the 
brain  being  at  all  involved.  This  is  termed  reflex  action. 
Thus,  if  the  foot  of  a  sleeper  be  tickled,  it  will  be  jerked 
away — that  is,  the  impression  from  the  skin  is  conveyed  to 
the  spinal  centre,  and  an  impulse  is  immediately  reflected 
back,  which  contracts  the  proper  muscles  of  the  limbs,  and 
the  foot  is  withdrawn.  The  most  perfect  example  of  it, 
however,  is  where  stimulus  at  the  surface  produces  move- 
ments of  the  limbs  after  division  of  the  cord  from  the  head, 
and  therefore  in  total  unconsciousness.  The  discovery  of 
reflex  action  was  the  first  step  in  the  systematic  elucidation 
of  the  spontaneous  movements,  or  what  is  known  as  the 
automatic  system  in  animal  mechanisms. 

But  reflex  action  has  another  aspect.  When  an  impres- 
sion passes  upward  along  the  cord  to  the  nervous  masses 
at  the  base  of  the  brain,  it  first  flashes  into  consciousness 
and  becomes  a  sensation.  Reflex  effects  now  take  place, 
in  which  sensation  and  consciousness  are  implicated.  Wink- 
ing, sneezing,  coughing,  swallowing,  are  examples :  we  are 
conscious  of  the  actions,  but  they  are  not  the  results  of 
volition.  The  will  may,  indeed,  exert  a  partial  control 
over  them,  but  they  are  usually  of  an  automatic  character. 
Thus  far,  the  part  of  the  nervous  mechanism  called  into 
action  is  the  spinal  system,  and  the  ganglionic  masses  at 
the  base  of  the  brain  known  as  the  sensorium.  This  appa- 
ratus is  not  peculiar  to  man ;  he  shares  it  with  the  entire 
vertebrate  series,  and  it  is  regarded  as  the  source  of  all 
purely  instinctive  actions. 

The  establishment  of  these  fundamental  facts  in  refer- 
ence to  the  working  of  the  mental  mechanism  of  our  nature 
— the  definite  separation  of  a  large  part  of  its  actions  from 
that  higher  sphere  of  intellection  and  volition  to  which 


458  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

they  had  hitherto  been  assigned — was  a  signal  event  in  the 
progress  of  physiological  inquiry,  as  it  quickly  led  to  the 
extension  of  the  principle  of  automatism  to  the  cerebrum 
itself.  This  portion  of  the  brain  is  now  regarded  as  the 
organ  of  all  the  higher  mental  activities — the  seat  of  ideas 
and  of  the  complex  intellectual  operations,  memory,  imagina- 
tion, reason,  volition.  The  most  obvious  case  of  reflex 
cerebral  action  is  where  a  remembered  or  suggested  idea 
produces  a  spontaneous  movement.  Thus  the  recollection 
of  a  ludicrous  incident  may  excite  an  involuntary  burst  of 
laughter,  the  remembrance  of  a  disgusting  taste  may  cause 
vomiting.  When  ideas  are  associated  with  pleasure  or 
pain,  a  class  of  powerful  feelings  is  produced — the  emo- 
tions, which  become  the  springs  of  impulsion,  or  reflex 
activity.  Those  bursts  of  movement  which  are  peculiar 
to  the  various  emotions,  as  anger,  terror,  joy,  and  which 
we  term  their  expressions,  are  examples  of  cerebral  spon- 
taneity. 

These  facts  prepare  us  to  understand  the  scope  and 
limits  of  voluntary  activity,  the  function  of  which  is  to 
restrain  the  impulsive  tendencies,  and  direct  the  bodily 
movements  to  various  ends.  In  voluntary  action  the  will 
does  not  replace  or  dispense  with  the  involuntary  system, 
but  rather  uses  it.  Its  action  is  limited  by  the  laws  of  the 
vital  mechanism  with  which  it  works.  Of  all  the  number- 
less movements  going  on  in  the  organism,  volition  has  con- 
trol only  of  the  muscular,  and  of  these  but  partially.  It 
cannot  act  directly  upon  the  muscles,  but  liberates  nerve 
force  in  the  brain,  which  in  turn  produces  muscular  con- 
traction. The  voluntary  powers  determine  the  end  to  be 
accomplished,  and  employ  the  automatic  system  to  execute 
the  determination.  I  will  a  given  action,  and  of  the  many 
hundred  muscles  in  my  system,  a  certain,  and  perhaps  a 
large  number,  will  be  called  into  simultaneous  exercise,  re- 
quiring the  most  marvellous  combinations  of  separate  ac- 


On  the  Scientific  Study  of  Human  Nature.      459 

tions  to  accomplish  it :  but  the  will  knows  nothing  of  this; 
it  is  concerned  with  the  result  alone. 

In  the  formation  of  habits  and  in  the  processes  of  edu- 
cation, voluntary  actions  are  constantly  becoming  reflex, 
or,  as  it  is  termed,  "  secondarily  automatic."  Thus  learn- 
ing to  walk  at  first  demands  voluntary  effort,  but  at  length 
the  act  of  walking  becomes  automatic  and  unconscious.  So 
with  all  adaptive  movements,  as  the  manipulatory  exercises 
of  the  arts;'  they  at  first  require  an  effort  of  will,  and  then 
gradually  become  "  mechanical,"  or  are  performed  with 
but  slight  voluntary  exertion.  And  so  it  is,  also,  in  the 
purely  intellectual  operations,  where  the  cerebral  excite- 
ment, instead  of  taking  effect  upon  the  motor  system,  ex- 
pends itself  in  the  production  of  new  intellectual  effects, 
one  state  of  consciousness  passing  into  another,  according 
to  the  established  laws  of  thought.  Here,  also,  the  agency 
of  the  will  is  but  partial,  and  the  mental  actions  are  largely 
spontaneous.  In  the  case  of  memory,  we  all  know  how 
little  volition  can  directly  effect.  We  cannot  call  up  an 
idea  by  simply  willing  it.  When  we  try  to  remember  some- 
thing, which  is,  of  course,  out  of  consciousness,  the  office 
of  volition  is  simply  to  fix  the  attention  upon  various  ideas 
which  will  be  most  likely  to  recall,  by  the  law  of  association, 
the  thing  desired.  We  have  all  experienced  this  impotence 
of  the  will  to  recover  a  forgotten  name,  or  incident,  which 
may  subsequently  flash  into  consciousness  after  the  atten- 
tion has  long  been  withdrawn  from  the  search.  The  same 
thing  is  observed  in  the  exercise  of  the  imagination.  It  is 
said  of  eminent  poets,  painters,  and  musicians,  that  they 
are  born,  and  not  made ;  that  is,  their  genius  is  an  endow- 
ment of  nature — a  gifted  organism  which  spontaneously 
utters  itself  in  high  achievements,  and  they  often  present 
cases  of  remarkable  automatism.  When  Mozart  was  asked 
how  he  set  to  work  to  compose  a  symphony,  he  replied,  "  If 
you  once  think  how  you  are  to  do  it,  you  w,ill  never  write 


460  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

anything  worth  hearing;  I  write  because  I  cannot  help  it." 
Jean  Paul  remarks  of  the  poet's  work :  "  The  character 
must  appear  living  before  you,  and  you  must  hear  it, 
not  merely  see  it ;  it  must,  as  takes  place  in  dreams,  dic- 
tate to  you,  not  you  to  it.  A  poet  who  must  reflect  whether, 
in  a  given  case,  he  will  make  his  character  say  Yes,  or  No, 
to  the  devil  with  him  !  "  An  author  may  be  as  much  as- 
tonished at  the  brilliancy  of  his  unwilled  inspirations  as  his 
most  partial  reader.  "  That's  splendid  !  "  exclaimed  Thack- 
eray, as  he  struck  the  table  in  admiring  surprise  at  the 
utterance  of  one  of  his  characters  in  the  story  he  was  writ- 
ing. Again,  the  mental  actions  which  constitute  reasoning 
have  an  undoubted  spontaneous  element,  the  office  of  voli- 
tion being,  as  in  the  former  cases,  to  rivet  the  attention  to 
the  subject  of  inquiry,  while  the  gradual  blending  of  the 
like  in  different  ideas  into  general  conceptions  is  the  work 
of  the  involuntary  faculties.  You  cannot  will  a  logical 
conclusion,  but  only  maintain  steadily  before  the  mind  the 
problem  to  be  solved.  Sir  Isaac  Newton  thus  discloses  the 
secret  of  his  immortal  discoveries :  "  I  keep  the  subject 
constantly  before  me,  and  wait  till  the  first  dawnings  open, 
by  little  and  little,  into  a  full  light." 

But  corporeal  agency  in  processes  of  thought  has  an 
aspect  still  more  marked ;  the  higher  intellectual  opera- 
tions may  take  place,  not  only  independent  of  the  will,  but 
also  independent  of  consciousness  itself.  Consciousness 
and  mind  are  far  from  being  one  and  the  same  thing.  The 
former  applies  only  to  that  which  is  at  any  time  present  in 
thought;  the  latter  comprehends  all  psychical  activity. 
Not  a  thousandth  part  of  our  knowledge  is  at  any  time  in 
consciousness,  but  it  is  all  and  always  in  the  mind.  An 
idea  or  feeling  passes  out  of  consciousness,  but  not  into 
annihilation ;  in  what  state,  then,  is  it  ?  We  cannot  be  sat- 
isfied with  the  indefinite  statement,  that  it  is  stored  away 
in  the  receptacle  or  chamber  of  memory.  Science  affirms 


On  the  Scientific  Study  of  Human  Nature.     461 

an  organ  of  mind,  and  demands  an  explanation,  in  terms  of 
its  action.  As  the  thought  passes  from  consciousness, 
something  remains  in  the  cerebral  substratum,  call  it  what 
you  will — trace,  impression,  residue.  What  the  precise 
character  of  these  residua  may  be  is  perhaps  questionable, 
but  it  is  impossible  to  deny  their  existence  in  some  form 
consistent  with  the  nature  of  the  cerebral  structure  and 
activity.  All  thoughts,  feelings,  and  impressions,  when 
disappearing  from  consciousness,  leave  behind  them  in  the 
nerve  substance  their  effects  or  residua,  and  in  this  state 
they  constitute  what  may  be  termed  latent  or  statical  mind. 
They  are  brought  into  consciousness  by  the  laws  of  asso- 
ciation, and  there  is  much  probability  that  in  this  uncon- 
scious state  they  are  still  capable  of  acting  and  reacting, 
and  of  working  out  true  intellectual  results. 

There  are  few  who  have  not  had  experience  of  this  un- 
conscious working  of  the  mind.  It  often  happens  that  we 
pursue  a  subject  until  arrested  by  difficulties  which  we  can- 
not conquer,  when,  after  dismissing  it  entirely  from  the 
thoughts  for  a  considerable  interval,  and  then  taking  it  up 
again,  the  obscurity  and  confusion  are  found  to  have  cleared 
away,  the  subject  is  opened  in  quite  new  relations,  and 
marked  intellectual  progress  has  been  made.  Nor  can  we 
explain  this  by  assuming  that  the  arrest  was  simply  due  to 
weariness,  and  the  clearer  insight  to  ther  estoration  of  vigour 
by  rest,  as  after  a  refreshing  night's  sleep.  Time  enters 
largely  as  an  element  of  the  case ;  weeks  and  months  are 
often  required  to  produce  the  result,  while  the  entirely 
new  development  which  the  subject  is  found  to  have  under- 
gone, seems  only  explicable  by  the  intermediate  and  uncon- 
scious activity  of  the  cerebral  centre.  The  brain  also  re- 
ceives impressions  and  accumulates  residua  in  partial  or 
total  unconsciousness.  In  reading,  for  example,  we  gather 
the  sense  of  an  author  most  perfectly  while  almost  oblivi- 
ous of  the  separate  words.  And  thus,  as*  Dr.  Maudsley  re- 


462  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

marks,  "  the  brain  not  only  receives  impressions  uncon- 
sciously, registers  impressions  without  the  co-operation  of 
consciousness,  elaborates  material  unconsciously,  calls 
latent  residua  again  into  activity,  without  consciousness, 
but  it  responds  also  as  an  organ  of  organic  life  to  the  in- 
ternal stimuli,  which  it  receives  unconsciously  from  other 
organs  of  the  body."  * 

Science  now  teaches  that  we  know  nothing  of  mental 
action,  except  through  nervous  action,  without  which 
there  is  neither  thought,  recollection,  nor  reason.  An 
eminent  authority  upon  this  subject,  Dr.  Bucknill,  says: 
"  The  activity  of  the  vesicular  neurine  of  the  brain  is 
the  occasion  of  all  these  capabilities.  The  little  cells 
are  the  agents  of  all  that  is  called  mind,  of  all  our  sen- 
sations, thoughts,  and  desires ;  and  the  growth  and  reno- 
vation of  these  cells  are  the  most  ultimate  conditions  of 
mind  with  which  we  are  acquainted."  And  again  ;  "  Not 
a  thrill  of  sensation  can  occur,  not  a  flashing  thought,  or  a 
passing  feeling  can  take  place  without  a  change  in  the  liv- 
ing organism,  much  less  can  diseased  sensation,  thought, 
or  feeling  occur  without  such  changes." 

These  facts  sufficiently  disclose  the  agency  of  the  bodily 
system  in  carrying  on  mental  action ;  but  the  view  becomes 
still  more  impressive  when  we  observe  to  what  an  extent 
corporeal  conditions  influence  and  determine  intellectual 
states. 

The  weight  of  the  human  brain  ranges  from  sixty-four 
ounces  to  twenty  ounces,  and,  other  things  being  equal,  the 
scale  of  intellectual  power  is  held  to  correspond  with  its 
mass.  Cerebral  action  has  thus  an  enormous  range  of  limita- 
tion, due  to  the  variable  volume  of  the  mental  organ,  but 
it  is  also  modified  in  numerous  ways  and  numberless  degrees 
by  accompanying  physiological  conditions.  The  brain  is  an 

*  The  Physiology  and  Pathology  of  Mind,  by  Dr.  Maudsley,  p.  20. 


On  the  Scientific  Study  of  Human  Nature.      463 

organ  of  power;  power  depends  upon  change,  and  change 
upon  circulation  ;  the  lungs  and  heart  are  therefore  immedi- 
ately involved.  To  high  and  sustained  mental  power,  ample 
lungs  and  a  vigorous  heart  are  essential.  And  these  organs, 
again,  fall  back  upon  the  digestive  apparatus,  which,  if 
feeble,  may  impair  the  capacity  of  a  good  heart,  sound 
lungs,  and  a  well-constituted  brain.  Digestion,  and  even 
the  caprice  of  appetite,  thus  stand  in  direct  dynamic  rela- 
tion to  intellectual  results. 

As  the  brain  is  more  largely  dependent  than  any  other 
organ  upon  the  torrent  of  blood  which  pours  through  it, 
we  find  that  even  a  transient  variation  in  the  supply  dis- 
turbs the  course  of  thought.  If  a  portion  of  the  skull  is 
removed  and  pressure  be  made  upon  the  brain,  conscious- 
ness disappears ;  and  the  same  thing  occurs  in  fainting, 
from  suspension  of  the  circulation.  With  invigorated  ac- 
tion of  the  heart  there  is  a  general  exaltation  of  the  men- 
tal powers,  while  an  enfeebled  circulation  depresses  mental 
activity.  Apoplectic  congestion  produces  stupor  and  in- 
sensibility ;  inflammation  of  the  grey  substance  causes  de- 
lirium ;  while  inflammation  of  the  fibrous  portion  produces 
torpor  and  diminishes  the  power  of  the  will  over  the  mus- 
cles. In  thus  saying  that  the  state  of  the  blood  influences 
the  mind,  we  do  not  use  the  term  mind  in  any  vague  or  ab- 
stract sense;  we  mean  that  it  affects  our  views,  opinions, 
feelings,  judgments,  actions.  Change  of  circulation  alters 
our  mental  pitch,  and  with  it  our  relation  to  the  universe. 
Dr.  Laycock  observes :  "  In  the  earliest  stage  of  general 
paralysis  there  is  a  feeling  of  energy.  Everything,  there- 
fore, appears  hopeful  to  the  patient ;  large  enterprises,  the 
success  of  which  he  never  doubts,  occupy  his  mind,  and  he 
rushes  sometimes  into  the  most  extravagant  and  wasteful 
speculations.  This  is  the  stage  of  erethism  of  the  capil- 
laries of  the  part  of  the  brain  affected,  when  it  is  just 
sufficient  to  excite  increased  cerebral  vigour.  If,  how- 


464  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

ever,  from  any  cause,  this  activity  declines,  so  as  to  sink 
below  par,  a  precisely  opposite  state  of  consciousness 
arises,  and  the  patient  may  fall  into  a  profound  melancholy 
and  be  insanely  hopeless,  distrustful,  and  anxious  as  to  all 
events,  past,  present,  and  to  come."*  Even  the  variation 
in  the  quantity  of  blood  which  enters  the  brain,  by  simply 
taking  the  recumbent  position,  may  affect  mental  activity 
in  a  marked  degree.  Persons  who,  through  overexertion 
of  mind,  have  impaired  the  contractility  of  the  cerebral 
vessels,  often  become  intensely  wakeful  after  lying  down, 
although  very  drowsy  before,  and  sometimes  can  only  sleep 
in  the  erect  position.  Dendy  mentions  the  case  of  an 
individual  who,  when  he  retired  to  rest,  was  constantly 
haunted  by  a  spectre,  which  attempted  to  take  his  life ; 
though  when  he  raised  himself  in  bed  the  phantom  van- 
ished. 

Persons  have  had  their  entire  character  changed  by  an 
apparently  trifling  interference  with  the  circulation  of 
blood  in  the  head.  "A  person  of  my  acquaintance,"  says 
Dr.  Hammond,  "  was  naturally  of  good  disposition,  amiable 
and  considerate,  but  after  an  attack  of  vertigo,  attended 
with  unconsciousness  of  but  a  few  minutes'  duration,  his 
whole  mental  organization  was  changed ;  he  became  de- 
ceitful, morose,  and  overbearing."  Tuke  and  Bucknill 
mention  the  instance  of  a  conscientious  lady,  who  recovered 
from  the  brain  congestion  accompanying  smallpox  with 
her  disposition  greatly  changed.  The  susceptibility  of 
conscience  had  increased  to  a  state  of  actual  disease,  dis- 
turbing her  happiness,  and  disqualifying  her  for  the  duties 
of  life. 

A  blow  on  the  head  may  produce  marked  mental  de- 
rangement. The  memory  may  be  dislocated,  events  oblit- 
erated, and  whole  passages  from  the  past  life  expunged: 

*  Correlations  of  Consciousness  and  Organization,  vol.  ii,  p.  325. 


On  the  Scientific  Study  of  Human  Nature.     465 

the  faculty  of  speech  may  be  partially  or  wholly  destroyed, 
the  memory  of  words  confused,  or  entire  parts  of  speech 
lost. 

Mental  perversions  are  also  caused  by  certain  changes 
in  the  properties  of  the  blood.  A  fluid  of  amazing  com- 
plexity, holding  in  exquisite  balance  the  constituents  from 
which  the  whole  being  is  elaborated,  all  delicacies  of  feel- 
ing and  niceties  of  thought  depend  upon  its  purity.  "  Pol- 
ished steel  is  not  quicker  dimmed  by  the  slightest  breath 
than  is  the  brain  affected  by  some  abnormal  conditions  of 
the  blood." 

If  the  poisonous  products  of  bodily  waste  are  not  con- 
stantly swept  from  the  system,  the  cerebral  changes  are 
disturbed  and  the  mind  stupefied.  Foods,  drinks,  and 
drugs  affect  specifically  the  appetites,  passions,  and 
thoughts.  To  become  exhilarated  and  joyous,  man 
charges  his  blood  with  wine;  to  exalt  the  sensations,  he 
takes  hashish ;  to  secure  a  brilliant  fancy  and  luxurious 
imagination,  he  uses  opium  ;  to  abolish  consciousness  of 
pain,  he  breathes  vapour  of  chloroform.  Swedenborg  had 
a  peculiar  class  of  visions  "after  coffee."  "A  person  I 
know,"  observes  Dr.  Laycock,  "  after  taking  morphine,  in 
a  fever,  was  haunted  by  hideously  grotesque  and  fiendlike 
spectres ;  they  then  shortly  changed  into  groups  of  comical 
human  faces,  and  finally  altered  to  forms  of  the  human  fig- 
ure of  the  most  classic  beauty,  and  then  disappeared."  And 
this  learned  inquirer  maintains  that  the  pictorial  productions 
of  the  insane  vary  in  a  definite  order,  the  early  stages  of 
excitement  enabling  the  artist  to  execute  beautiful  concep- 
tions of  figures  and  landscapes;  then,  as  the  disease  ad- 
vances, he  passes  into  comic  delineations,  and  ends  with 
the  grotesque,  or  hideous. 

Those  fluctuations  of  feeling  with  which  all  are  more  or 
less  familiar,  the  alternations  of  hope  and  despondency, 
are  vitally  connected  with  organic  states.  In  high  health, 


466  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

the  outlook  is  confident,  there  is  joy  in  action,  and 
courage  in  enterprise;  but  with  a  low  or  disturbed  cir- 
culation, thin,  morbid  blood,  and  bodily  exhaustion,  there 
is  depression  of  spirits,  gloom,  inaction,  paralysis  of  will, 
and  weariness  of  life.  That  variability  of  mental  state 
which  is  so  striking  and  general  an  experience  with  the 
literary  and  artistic  classes,  the  periods  when  work  is  im- 
possible, the  moods  of  sluggish  and  unsatisfactory  effort, 
the  seasons  of  steady  and  successful  accomplishment,  and 
the  moments  of  rare  exaltation,  capricious  as  they  may 
seem,  are  but  the  exponents  of  varying  constitutional  con- 
ditions. 

But  the  part  played  by  the  organism  becomes  still  more 
apparent  when  we  consider  the  mode  of  action  of  the 
nervous  system  in  producing  mental  effects.  It  has  been 
stated  that  this  system  is  composed  of  fibres  and  cells  ; 
hence  the  simplest  conceivable  case  of  nervous  activity  is 
where  a  cell  and  fibre  become  active,  producing  an  excite- 
ment and  a  discharge,  the  highest  action  of  the  organ 
being  nothing  more  than  a  complex  system  of  excitements 
and  discharges.  In  sleep,  for  example,  a  fly  lights  upon 
the  face,  producing  an  impression,  or  change,  which  causes 
a  discharge  along  the  nerves  to  the  grey  matter  of  the 
spinal  cord.  Here  force  is  again  liberated,  which  is  dis- 
charged along  another  set  of  nerves  upon  the  appropriate 
muscles,  which,  being  contracted,  bring  the  hand  to  the 
place  where  the  fly  settled.  This  is  the  course  of  power  in 
a  simple  reflex  action.  But  when  the  brain  is  called  into 
conscious  exercise  in  the  higher  processes  of  intellection 
just  the  same  thing  occurs.  A  person  may  be  engaged  in 
tranquil  thinking,  when  one  idea  leads  on  to  another  in  a 
natural  train  of  association — that  is,  where  the  excitement 
of  one  state  of  consciousness  is  discharged  into  another, 
forming  a  succession  of  cerebral  changes.  In  this  quiet 
course  of  thought,  a  ludicrous  idea  or  a  witty  combination 


On  the  Scientific  Study  of  Human  Nature.      467 

may  arise,  when  a  large  amount  of  feeling,  or  nerve  excite- 
ment, is  suddenly  awakened.  This  may  be  discharged  in 
several  directions.  One  portion  may  be  spent  upon  the 
muscles  of  the  face  and  chest,  producing  laughter  ;  another 
portion  may  pass  along  the  nerves  leading  to  the  stomach, 
perhaps  stimulating  digestion  ;  and  a  third  may  be  ex- 
pended in  producing  other  states  of  consciousness  or  new 
trains  of  ideas.  Mental  action  is  thus  manifested  as 
definite  and  limited  nervous  action,  and  when  we  speak  of 
the  unfolding  of  mind,  as  in  education,  the  fact  signified  is 
the  growing  adaptation  of  the  brain  and  nervous  apparatus 
to  produce  more  and  more  complex  effects  in  accordance 
with  their  necessary  mode  of  working. 

The  child  comes  into  the  world  a  little  fountain  of 
spontaneous  power.  For  certain  purposes  its  nervous 
mechanism  is  perfected,  channels  of  discharge  are  open, 
connections  are  ready  formed,  and  reflex  actions  go  on 
from  the  first.  The  infant  also  inherits  the  capabilities 
of  its  type — that  is,  the  possibility  of  high  development 
which  belongs  to  man  as  distinguished  from  inferior 
creatures ;  and  it  also  inherits  the  special  tendencies  and 
aptitudes  of  its  particular  ancestors.  The  order  of  the 
surrounding  universe  now  begins  to  take  effect  upon  it, 
and  working  within  its  organic  limits,  which  of  course  vary 
widely  in  different  cases,  its  education  begins.  Impres- 
sions pour  in  through  the  senses,  and  begin  to  open  chan- 
nels of  discharge  through  the  nerve  centres.  The  child 
sees  and  desires  an  object,  but  has  more  or  less  difficulty 
in  connecting  the  sensation  with  the  movement  necessary 
to  seize  it.  By  numberless  efforts  a  nervous  path  is  at 
length  formed,  and  when  a  desirable  object  is  seen,  the 
sensation  discharges  upon  the  proper  muscles,  producing  a 
suitable  movement,  and  the  hand  grasps  it.  So  with  walk- 
ing and  speaking  ;  by  repeated  exertions  lines  of  nervous 
discharge  are  completed,  and  the  sensations  involved  are 


468  Edivard  Livingston   Yonmans. 

co-ordinated  with  the  movements  of  locomotion  and  utter- 
ance. Repetition  strengthens  association  and  facilitates 
action  ;  that  which  is  difficult  at  first,  requiring  a  large 
expenditure  of  voluntary  effort,  at  last  seems  "  to  go  of 
itself."  Upon  this  point  Dr.  Carpenter  remarks :  "There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  nerve  force  is  disposed  to  pass  in 
special  tracks,  and  it  seems  probable  that  while  some  are 
originally  marked  out  for  the  automatic  movements,  others 
may  be  gradually  worn  in  by  the  habitual  action  of  the 
will,  and  that  thus  when  a  train  of  sequential  actions  origi- 
nally directed  by  the  will  has  been  once  set  in  operation, 
it  may  continue  without  any  further  influence  from  that 
source."  * 

Thus,  in  committing  to  memory  a  poem,  or  in  learning 
a  piece  of  music,  voluntary  effort  wears  a  path  of  asso- 
ciation, so  that  each  word  or  sound  automatically  suggests 
the  next,  and  we  can  either  repeat  the  words  or  hum  the 
air  in  silence,  or  link  on  the  automatic  movements  of  ex- 
pression :  but  by  sufficient  repetition  the  words  and  sounds 
become  so  closely  associated,  that  when  the  first  bar  of  the 
melody  or  the  first  stanza  of  the  poem  is  awakened,  it  will 
cost  an  effort  to  prevent  running  through  with  them.  In 
this  way,  as  the  child  grows  to  maturity,  brain  connections 
are  established  between  sensations,  ideas,  and  movements  ; 
they  become  automatic  and  powerful,  and  give  rise  to  fixed 
habits.  Peculiarities  of  gait,  attitude,  gesture,  and  speech, 
and  the  iteration  of  set  phrases,  become  partially  auto- 
matic, their  paths  of  discharge  getting  so  deeply  worn  that 
repetition  occurs  involuntarily.  The  same  thing  is  seen 
also  in  the  higher  region  of  ideas  and  beliefs.  Long-es- 
tablished associations  and  opinions  survive  their  rejection 
by  reason  :  convince  a  man  of  his  lifelong  errors  to-day, 
and  he  reasserts  them  to-morrow,  so  strong  is  the  tend- 

*  Principles  of  Human  Physiology.     Fifth  edition,  p.  699. 


On  the  Scientific  Study  of  Human  Nature.      469 

ency  of  thought  to  move  in  its  long-accustomed  cerebral 
tracks. 

Now,  when  we  experience  a  feeling,  or  think  a  thought, 
or  determine  an  act — that  is,  in  every  case  of  excitement 
and  discharge — there  is  a  partial  decomposition  of  the 
nervous  structure  in  action.  In  every  such  act  there  is  loss 
of  energy,  or  partial  exhaustion,  the  cells  and  fibres  fall 
below  par,  and  the  equilibrium  is  restored  by  the  nutrition 
of  the  weakened  part.  Brain  repair  thus  takes  place  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  modes  of  mental  action,  and,  as  in  the  black- 
smith's arm  muscular  nutrition  is  commensurate  with  its 
exercise,  and  augments  power,  so  in  every  special  kind  of 
mental  exercise,  cerebral  nutrition  co-operates  to  raise  the 
standard  of  nervous  power.  As  waste  accompanies  exer- 
cise, and  repair  follows  waste,  the  nutrition  of  the  organ 
is  determined  by  the  modes  of  mental  activity — given  asso- 
ciations and  ideas  become  patterns,  as  it  were,  in  con- 
formity to  which  the  brain  is  moulded.  In  this  way  the 
organic  processes  re-enforce  mental  acquisition,  and  as- 
similation tends  to  perpetuate  states  of  feeling  and  modes 
of  thought  and  action.  Throughout  infancy,  childhood, 
and  youth,  when  nutrition  is  in  excess,  the  brain  is  thus 
adapted  to  its  circumstances,  and  grows  to  the  order  of  im- 
pressions and  ideas  which  it  receives. 

We  have  seen  that  the  office  of  volition  is  to  determine 
the  course  of  thought  and  direct  bodily  actions  to  specific 
ends.  This  capability  is  the  noblest  element  of  our  nature, 
but  is  greatly  variable  in  different  individuals  by  habit  and 
constitution,  and  is  inexorably  limited  in  all.  The  will  is 
not  an  absolute  despot,  with  unbounded  authority  to  do 
what  it  lists,  but  rather  a  constitutional  President,  exercis- 
ing vast  power,  it  may  be,  but  strictly  subject  to  the  laws 
of  the  organic  state.  Its  regnant  prerogative,  as  we  have 
seen,  is  that  of  controlling  the  attention,  by  which  it  is 
enabled  to  wield  the  entire  energy  of  the  organism  to  the 


4/O  Edivard  Livingston   Youmans. 

accomplishment  of  its  purposes.  In  this  way  the  auto- 
matic system  becomes  a  means  of  exalting  the  office  of 
volition,  and  making  it  in  an  eminent  degree  the  arbiter  of 
individual  destiny.  But  in  the  exercise  of  its  prerogative 
the  will  is  governed  by  the  same  great  law  which  rules  all 
the  other  powers,  namely,  the  acquirement  of  strength  by 
exercise.  Only  through  that  constant  exertion  by  which 
energy  is  accumulated  can  the  will  gain  command  of  the 
thoughts  and  mastery  of  the  impulses.  By  continual  prac- 
tice the  organism  grows,  as  it  were,  into  subordination,  and 
the  voluntary  powers  become  habitually  predominant.  The 
will  is  thus,  in  an  eminent  degree,  capable  of  education, 
but  when  we  see  how  it  is  enfeebled  in  bodily  debility  and 
utterly  extinguished  in  numerous  morbid  states  of  the  sys- 
tem, it  becomes  apparent  to  what  an  extent  physiological 
conditions  must  enter  into  the  policy  of  its  intelligent  man- 
agement. Even  its  limited  freedom,  as  physicians  well 
understand,  is  only  coincident  with  healthy  bodily  action. 

Sufficient,  I  trust,  has  now  been  said  to  show  that 
mental  operations  are  so  inextricably  interwoven  with  cor- 
poreal actions,  that  to  study  them  successfully  apart  is 
altogether  impossible.  The  mental  life  and  the  bodily  life 
are  manifestations  of  the  same  organism,  growing  together, 
fluctuating  together,  declining  together.  They  depend 
upon  common  laws,  which  must  be  investigated  by  a  com- 
mon method ;  and  science,  in  unravelling  the  mysteries  of 
the  body,  has  thrown  important  light  upon  the  workings 
of  the  mind.  It  only  remains  now  to  point  out,  that  when 
subjected  to  the  Baconian  test  of  "  fruitfulness  " — of  prac- 
tical application  to  the  emergencies  of  experience — the  sci- 
entific method  of  regarding  human  nature,  incomplete  as  it 
may  be,  already  stands  in  marked  contrast  to  the  prover- 
bial barrenness  of  the  old  metaphysics.  I  will  briefly  refer 
to  two  or  three  such  applications. 

One  of  the  gloomiest  chapters  of  man's  social  history  is 


On  the  Scientific  Study  of  Human  Nature.      471 

that  which  records  the  treatment  of  the  insane.  Those 
upon  whom  had  fallen  the  heaviest  calamity  possible  in 
life,  were  looked  upon  with  horror,  as  accursed  of  God,  and 
treated  with  a  degree  of  cruelty  which  seems  now  incredible. 
Asylums  were  dark  and  dismal  jails,  where  their  inmates 
were  left  in  cold,  hunger,  and  filth,  to  be  chained  and 
lashed  at  the  caprice  of  savage  keepers.  And  this  bar- 
barism continued  in  countries  claiming  to  be  enlightened 
down  to  the  middle  of  the  present  century.  Let  me  men- 
tion a  solitary  instance,  of  which  the  literature  of  the  sub- 
ject is  full. 

Said  Dr.  Conolly,  in  a  lecture  in  1847  :  "It  was  in  the 
Female  Infirmary  at  Hanwell,  exactly  seven  years  ago, 
that  I  found,  among  other  examples  of  the  forgetfulness 
of  what  was  due  either  to  the  sick  or  insane,  a  young 
woman  lying  in  a  crib,  bound  to  the  middle  of  it  by  a  strap 
around  the  waist,  to  the  sides  of  it  by  the  hands,  to  the 
foot  of  it  by  the  ankles,  and  to  the  head  of  it  by  the  neck ; 
she  also  had  her  hands  in  the  hard  leathern  terminations  of 
canvas  sleeves.  She  could  not  turn,  nor  lie  on  her  side, 
nor  lift  her  hand  to  her  face,  and  her  appearance  was  mis- 
erable beyond  the  power  of  words  to  describe.  That  she 
was  almost  always  wet  and  dirty,  it  is  scarcely  necessary 
to  say.  But  the  principal  point  I  wish  to  illustrate  by  men- 
tioning this  case  is,  that  it  was  a  feeble  and  sick  woman 
who  was  thus  treated.  At  that  very  time  her  whole  skin 
was  covered  with  neglected  scabies,  and  she  was  suffering 
all  the  torture  of  a  large  and  deep-seated  abscess  of  the 
breast."  "Again,"  he  remarks,  "old  and  young,  men  and 
women,  the  frantic  and  the  melancholy,  were  treated  worse 
and  more  neglected  than  the  beasts  of  the  field.  The  cells 
of  an  asylum  resembled  the  dens  of  a  squalid  menagerie ; 
the  straw  was  raked  out,  and  the  food  was  thrown  in  through 
the  bars,  and  exhibitions  of  madness  were  witnessed  which 
are  no  longer  to  be  found,  because  they  were  not  the  sim- 


4/2  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

pie  product  of  malady,  but  of  malady  aggravated  by  mis- 
management." 

Now,  these  statements  represent  a  condition  of  things 
as  old  as  history,  and  we  are  called  upon  to  account  for  it. 
Granting  that  the  insane  were  dangerous,  and  required  re- 
straint, and  granting  all  that  may  be  urged  concerning  the 
barbarity  of  the  times,  we  have  yet  to  find  the  cause  of  the 
apparently  gratuitous  ferocity  of  which  they  were  the  vic- 
tims ;  and  this  we  do  find  in  the  legitimate  consequences 
of  the  prevailing  theory  of  human  nature.  The  ancient 
philosophy  taught  that  the  body  is  to  be  despised,  de- 
graded, renounced.  This  view  was  adopted  by  theology, 
and  thrown  into  a  concrete  and  dramatic  shape,  which  made 
it  more  capable  of  vivid  realization  by  the  multitude.  It 
pronounced  the  body  to  be  "  a  sink  of  iniquity,"  the  "  in- 
trenchment  of  Satan,"  a  fit  residence  for  demons.  The 
lunatic  was  one  who  had  incurred  Divine  displeasure,  and 
was  given  over  to  the  powers  of  darkness,  by  whom  he  was 
"  possessed."  This  doctrine,  of  which  witchcraft  was  one 
of  the  developments,  abundantly  explains  the  attitude  of 
society  toward  the  victims  of  mental  disorder.  What  more 
suitable  than  dungeons,  scourgings,  and  tortures  for  the  de- 
tested wretch,  who  was  thus  manifestly  forsaken  of  God 
and  delivered  over  to  the  devil  ?  The  merciless  brute  who 
inflicted  untold  sufferings  upon  these  unhappy  beings 
deemed  himself,  like  the  Inquisitor,  but  an  instrument  for 
executing  the  will  of  Heaven. 

It  availed  nothing  that,  for  thousands  of  years,  there 
had  been  a  broad  current  of  intense  and  powerful  thought 
in  the  channels  of  poetry,  polemics,  oratory,  philosophy, 
politics,  theology,  and  devotion.  All  this  multifarious 
culture  was  powerless  to  arrest  the  evil  consequences  of 
a  radically  erroneous  view  of  human  nature,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  the  discovery  of  truth  was  not  among  its  ob- 
jects. It  was  only  when  a  class  of  men,  participating  in 


On  the  Scientific  Study  of  Human  Nature.      473 

the  new  spirit  of  modern  times,  and  drawn  to  the  investiga- 
tion by  the  necessities  of  their  profession,  entered  earnestly 
upon  the  study  of  the  body,  that  views  were  reached  which 
have  revolutionized  and  humanized  the  treatment  of  the 
insane.  Discovering  that  the  mind  is  dependent  upon  the 
organism,  and  that  its  disordered  manifestations  are  the 
results  of  organic  derangement,  they  found  that  insanity  is 
not  a  devil  to  be  exorcised  but  a  disease  to  be  cured. 
After  a  sharp  struggle  with  popular  ignorance  and  tradi- 
tional prejudice,  the  better  views  have  triumphed,  and 
society  is  beginning  to  reap  the  beneficent  consequences 
of  their  labours  :  the  stern  and  violent  measures,  that 
served  but  to  aggravate  the  malady,  have  given  place  to 
gentle  and  kindly  treatment,  which  is  found  to  be  of  itself 
a  most  potent  means  of  restoration. 

The  management  of  the  idiotic,  or  feeble-minded, 
equally  illustrates  the  argument.  Throughout  the  past 
no  movement  was  made  for  the  relief  of  this  wretched 
class,  and  no  one  dreamed  that  anything  could  be  done 
for  them ;  but  the  progress  of  Physiology  has  made  a  new 
revelation  in  this  field  also.  Dr.  Edward  Seguin,  in  his 
recent  able  work  upon  The  Treatment  of  Idiocy  by  the 
Physiological  Method,  observes :  "  Idiots  could  not  be 
educated  by  the  methods,  nor  cured  by  the  treatment, 
practised  prior  to  1837  ;  but  most  idiots,  and  children 
proximate  to  them,  may  be  relieved,  in  a  more  or  less  com- 
plete measure,  of  their  disabilities  by  the  physiological 
mode  of  education." 

These  facts  have  a  profound  significance.  They  not 
only  show  that  to  be  practicable  which  the  world  had  never 
suspected  to  be  possible,  and  that  science  is  true  to  her 
beneficent  mission  in  the  higher  sphere  as  well  as  in  the 
lower  ;  they  not  only  show  that  a  change  of  method  in  the 
study  of  human  nature  ended  some  of  the  grossest  barba- 
risms of  the  past,  but  they  involve  this  deeper  result — that 

21 


474  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

by  reaching  a  knowledge  of  the  true  causes  of  insanity  and 
imbecility,  we  gain  command  of  the  means  of  their  preven- 
tion, and  arrive  at  the  principles  of  mental  hygiene.  And 
this  leads  to  the  consideration  of  those  wider  consequences 
to  society  at  large  which  the  modern  method  of  inquiry  is 
beginning  to  produce. 

This  is  perhaps  best  illustrated  in  the  establishment  of 
what  may  be  called  the  law  of  mental  limitations.  The  old 
contrast  between  matter  and  mind  led  to  the  growth  of  an 
all-prevalent  error  upon  this  point.  To  matter  belongs 
extension  or  limitation  in  space ;  but  mind  is  inextended, 
and  therefore  it  has  been  inferred  to  be  unlimited  :  being 
indefinite,  it  was  supposed  to  be  unbounded  in  its  nature. 
But  force  also  is  inextended,  although  rigorously  limited 
and  measurable  ;  and  as  mind  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than 
mental  power,  it  must  be  subject  to  the  laws  of  power,  and 
work  within  quantitative  limits,  like  any  other  form  of 
force.  Power,  again,  is  but  the  accompaniment  of  material 
change,  and  is  hence  restricted  in  quantity  by  the  amount 
of  that  change  ;  and  as  mind  is  accompanied  by  cerebral 
transformation,  it  must  have  a  necessary  limit  in  the  quan- 
tity of  cerebral  transformation.  In,  therefore,  considering 
man  as  a  being  in  whom  mind  is  conditioned  by  a  bodily 
organism,  the  limitation  of  mental  effects  becomes  a  prac- 
tical question  of  the  very  highest  importance. 

The  doctrine  of  the  conservation  of  energy  and  the 
mutual  convertibility  of  the  various  forces  is  now  accepted 
as  a  fundamental  truth  of  science.  Nor  is  there  any 
ground  for  regarding  the  vital  forces  as  an  exception  to 
the  principle.  That  the  organism  cannot  create  its  own 
force,  that  its  energy  is  entirely  derived  from  the  food  in- 
gested, and  which,  in  this  point  of  view,  is  merely  stored 
force,  is  beyond  question ;  and  the  source  being  thus 
limited,  that  its  expenditure  in  one  direction  makes  it  im- 
possible to  use  it  in  another,  is  equally  evident.  This 


On  the  Scientific  Study  of  Human  Nature.      475 

principle  applies,  even  in  a  more  marked  degree,  to  the 
cerebral  system.  Every  one  knows  that  hearty  digestion 
and  violent  exercise  lower  the  mental  activity — that  is,  the 
forces  are  diverted  from  the  brain,  and  thrown  upon  the 
stomach  and  muscles. 

That  the  purely  intellectual  powers  are  also  subject  to 
limitation  is  unquestionable.  All  minds  are  fissured  with 
incapacities  in  one  direction  or  another — clipped  away  on 
this  side  or  on  that — all  are  fragmentary.  There  may  be 
great  mathematical  ability,  but  no  imagination ;  fine 
poetical  gifts,  without  logical  faculty ;  large  executive 
power,  coupled  with  deficient  judgment.  Dr.  Whewell 
had  a  powerful  memory  for  books,  but  a  very  bad  one  for 
persons ;  Sir  William  Hamilton  cultivated  the  lore  and  his- 
tory of  philosophy  at  the  expense  of  his  power  of  origina- 
tion and  organization  ;  Prescott  was  so  irresolute  that  he 
could  only  spur  himself  to  his  literary  tasks  by  the  stimulus 
of  betting  with  his  secretary  that  he  would  do  a  certain 
amount  of  work  in  a  given  time ;  Theodore  Parker  was 
loaded  with  erudition,  but  exclaimed  on  his  premature 
deathbed,  "  Oh,  that  I  had  known  the  art  of  life,  or  found 
some  book,  or  some  man  to  tell  me  how  to  live,  to  study, 
to  take  exercise."  The  greatest  men  are  all  dunces  in 
something  :  Shakespeare  and  Newton  illustrate  the  law  as 
absolutely  as  the  veriest  weakling  of  the  asylum.  The 
full-orbed  intellect  is  yet  to  come,  and  will  doubtless 
bring  with  it  the  "  perpetual  motion  "  and  the  Jews' 
"  Messias." 

These  phenomena  find  no  explanation  in  the  old  hypoth- 
esis of  mind  as  a  vague,  spiritual  entity  ;  they  throw  us 
back  immediately  on  the  organism  whose  acknowledged 
limitations  offer  at  once  a  solution  of  the  mystery.  These 
mental  inaptitudes  may  be  either  organic  deficiencies,  or  a 
result  of  concentrating  the  cerebral  energy  in  certain 
directions,  and  its  consequent  withdrawal  from  others. 


476  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

Thus  viewed,  every  attainment  involves  the  exercise  of 
brain  power — each  acquisition  is  a  modification  of  cerebral 
structure.  All  sensations  of  objects  and  words  that  we 
remember,  all  acquired  aptitudes  of  movement ;  the  asso- 
ciations of  the  perception  of  things  with  visible  symbols, 
vocal  actions  and  sounds,  the  connection  of  ideas  with  feel- 
ings and  emotions,  and  the  formation  of  intellectual  and 
moral  habits,  are  all  concomitants  and  consequents  of  the 
only  kind  of  action  of  which  the  brain  is  capable — are  all 
the  products  of  organic  nutrition ;  and  the  rate  and  limit 
of  acquisition,  as  well  as  the  capacity  for  retention,  are 
conditioned  upon  the  completeness  of  the  nutritive  pro- 
cesses. As  each  acquirement  involves  a  growth  it  is 
evident  that  acquisition  may  reach  a  point  at  which  the 
whole  organic  force  is  consumed  in  conserving  it,  and 
further  attainments  can  only  be  made  at  the  expense  of 
the  decay  and  loss  of  old  ones.  Hence,  if  we  overburden 
the  brain,  as  in  school  "  cramming,"  nutrition  is  imperfect, 
adhesion  feeble,  and  acquisition  quickly  lost. 

The  one  great  physiological  law  upon  which  bodily  and 
mental  health  are  alike  dependent  is  the  alternation  of 
action  and  repose  which  results  from  the  limitation  of 
power.  The  eternal  equation  of  vital  vigour  is,  rest  equals 
exercise.  That  tendency  to  rhythmic  action,  which  seems 
to  mark  all  displays  of  power  in  the  universe,  is  con- 
spicuously manifested  in  the  organic  economy,  allowing 
the  muscles  of  respiration  eight  hours'  repose  out  of 
twenty-four,  and  six  hours'  rest  to  those  of  the  heart. 
The  cerebral  rhythm  is  diurnal ;  except  that  rest  which 
parts  of  the  brain  may  obtain  when  only  other  parts  are 
in  action,  the  organ  finds  its  appropriate  repose  in  sleep. 
"  Half  our  days  we  spend  in  the  shadow  of  the  earth,  and 
the  brother  of  death  extracteth  a  third  part  of  our  lives," 
says  the  eloquent  Sir  Thomas  Browne  ;  that  is,  the  perio- 
dicities of  cerebral  action  are  defined  by  astronomic  cycles  ; 


On  tlie  Scientific  Study  of  Human  Nature.      477 

the  brain  and  the  solar  system  march  together.  Exercise 
and  repose  are  equally  indispensable  to  mental  vigour ; 
deficiency  of  exercise  produces  mental  feebleness ;  de- 
ficiency of  rest,  disease.  But  there  lurks  in  this  statement 
a  deeper  and  more  dangerous  meaning  than  at  first 
appears.  The  equilibrium  once  lost  is  most  difficult  to  re- 
store— there  is  a  fatal  persistence  in  the  morbid  state.  It 
is  a  general  law  of  the  animal  economy,  that  when  the  vital 
powers  are  from  any  cause  depressed  below  a  certain 
point,  they  are  not  easily,  and  sometimes  are  never,  re- 
paired. A  large  loss  of  blood,  or  a  profound  exhaustion, 
may  entail  effects  upon  the  constitution  which  will  last  for 
years,  perhaps  for  life.  As  might  be  expected,  the  brain 
illustrates  this  principle  more  impressively  than  any  other 
portion  of  the  system  :  if  worked  beyond  its  limits,  there  is 
produced  a  rapid  exhaustion  of  power  which  renders  re- 
pose impossible.  The  exhaustion  of  overwork  is  accom- 
panied by  excitement,  which  tends  to  perpetuate  the  work 
and  accelerate  the  exhaustion.  The  will  is  thus  swamped 
in  the  uncontrollable  mobility  of  the  automatic  system,  the 
attention  becomes  insanely  exalted,  the  brain  will  not  be 
ordered  to  rest,  and  words  of  warning  are  wasted.  When 
his  physicians  admonished  Sir  Walter  Scott  of  the  impend- 
ing consequences  of  excessive  mental  labour,  he  sadly  re- 
plied :  "  As  for  bidding  me  not  work,  you  might  as  well  tell 
Molly  to  put  the  kettle  on  the  fire,  and  then  say  '  Now  don't 
boil.'  " 

We  live  in  an  age  of  intense  mental  activity  and  ever- 
increasing  cerebral  strain.  Steam  and  electricity  are 
tasked  to  bring  daily  tidings  of  what  is  happening  all  over 
the  world,  and  impressions  pour  in  upon  the  brain  at  a  rate 
with  which  nothing  in  the  past  is  comparable.  The  fierce 
competitions  of  business,  fashion,  study,  and  political  am- 
bition, are  at  work  to  sap  the  vigour  and  rack  the  integrity 
of  the  mental  fabric,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  there 


478  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

is,  in  consequence,  an  immense  amount  of  latent  brain 
disease,  productive  of  much  secret  suffering  and  slight  aber- 
rations of  conduct,  and  which  is  liable,  in  sudden  stress 
of  circumstances,  to  break  out  into  permanent  mental  de- 
rangement. The  price  we  pay  for  our  high-pressure  civili- 
zation is  a  fearful  increase  of  cerebral  exhaustion  and  dis- 
order, and  an  augmenting  ratio  of  shattered  intellects. 
We  are  startled  when  some  conspicuous  mind,  strained  be- 
yond endurance,  as  in  the  cases  of  Hugh  Miller,  or  Admiral 
Fitzroy,  crashes  into  insanity  and  suicide,  yet  these  are  but 
symptoms  of  the  prevailing  tendencies  of  modern  life. 

And  here  I  call  attention  to  the  deep  defects  of  that 
predominant  scheme  of  culture  which  not  only  ignores  the 
human  brain,  and  the  sciences  which  illustrate  it,  as  objects 
of  earnest  systematic  study,  but  explodes  upon  it  all  the 
traditional  contempt  which  it  cherishes  for  material  nature. 
*'  This  hasty  pudding  within  the  skull,"  said  Frederick 
.Robertson,  as  he  epitomized,  in  a  single  expression,  the 
stupid  prejudice  of  the  prevailing  "  scholarship."  Poor 
Robertson  !  smitten  down  in  the  midst  of  a  noble  career, 
by  the  consequences  of  overtasking,  dying  of  brain  disease 
in  the  prime  of  manhood : — how  cruelly  did  Nature  avenge 
the  insult ! 

Men  admire  the  steam-engine  of  Watt  and  the  calcu- 
lating engine  of  Babbage  ;  but  how  little  do  they  care  for 
the  thinking  engine  of  the  Infinite  Artificer  !  They  ven- 
erate days,  and  dogmas,  and  ceremonials  ;  but  where  is  the 
reverence  that  is  due  to  that  most  sacred  of  the  things  of 
time,  the  organism  of  the  soul !  We  speak  of  the  glories 
of  the  stellar  universe  ;  but  is  not  the  miniature  duplicate 
of  that  universe  in  the  living  brain  a  more  transcendent 
marvel  ?  We  admire  the  vast  fabric  of  society  and  govern- 
ment, and  that  complicated  scheme  of  duties,  responsibili- 
ties, usages,  and  laws  which  constitutes  social  order ;  but 
how  few  remember  that  all  this  has  its  deep  foundation  in 


On  the  Scientific  Study  of  Human  Nature.      479 

the  measured  march  of  cerebral  transformations!  We 
point  to  the  inventions,  arts,  sciences,  and  literatures, 
which  form  the  swelling  tide  of  civilization :  but  were  they 
not  all  originated  in  that  laboratory  of  wonders,  the  human 
brain  ?  Geological  revelations  carry  us  back  through 
durations  so  boundless,  that  imagination  is  bewildered, 
and  reason  reels  under  the  grandeur  of  the  demonstration  ; 
but  through  the  measureless  series  of  advancing  periods, 
we  discover  a  stupendous  plan.  Infinite  Power,  working 
through  infinite  time,  converges  the  mighty  lines  of 
causality  to  the  fulfilment  of  an  eternal  design — the  birth 
of  an  intellectual  and  moral  era  through  the  development 
of  the  brain  of  man,  which  thus  appears  as  the  final  term  of 
an  unfolding  world. 

The  ultimate  and  decisive  bearing  of  the  foregoing 
views  upon  plans  and  processes  of  instruction  can  hardly 
fail  to  have  been  perceived.  The  scientific  method  of 
studying  human  nature,  important  as  may  be  its  relation 
to  the  management  of  the  insane  and  feeble-minded,  and 
valuable  as  is  its  service  in  establishing  the  limits  of  mental 
effort,  must  find  its  fullest  application  to  the  broad  subject 
of  education.  For,  whatever  questions  of  the  proper  sub- 
jects to  be  taught,  their  relative  claims,  or  the  true  method 
of  teaching  may  arise,  there  is  a  prior  and  fundamental  in- 
quiry into  the  nature,  capabilities,  and  requirements  of  the 
being  to  be  taught,  upon  the  elucidation  of  which  all  other 
questions  immediately  depend.  A  knowledge  of  the  being 
to  be  trained,  as  it  is  the  basis  of  all  intelligent  culture, 
must  be  the  first  necessity  of  the  teacher. 

Education  is  an  art,  like  Locomotion,  Mining,  or 
Bleaching,  which  may  be  pursued  empirically  or  rationally, 
as  a  blind  habit,  or  under  intelligent  guidance;  and  the 
relations  of  science  to  it  are  precisely  the  same  as  to  all 
the  other  arts — to  ascertain  their  conditions  and  give  law 


480  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

to  their  processes.  What  it  has  done  for  Navigation,  Teleg- 
raphy, and  War,  it  will  also  do  for  Culture.  The  true 
method  of  proceeding  may  be  regarded  as  established,  and 
many  important  results  are  already  reached,  though  its 
systematic  application  is  hardly  yet  entered  upon.  Al- 
though there  is  undoubtedly  a  growing  interest  in  the 
scientific  aspects  of  the  subject,  yet  what  Mr.  Wyse  wrote 
twenty-five  years  ago  remains  still  but  too  true.  He  says, 
"  It  is  unquestionably  a  singular  circumstance,  that,  of  all 
problems,  the  problem  of  Education  is  that  to  which  by 
far  the  smallest  share  of  persevering  and  vigorous  atten- 
tion has  yet  been  applied. v  The  same  empiricis-m  which 
once  reigned  supreme  in  the  domains  of  chemistry,  astron- 
omy, and  medicine  still  retains  possession,  in  many  in- 
stances, of  those  of  education.  No  journal  is  kept  of  the 
phenomena  of  infancy  and  childhood  ;  no  parent  has  yet 
registered,  day  after  day,  with  the  attention  of  an  astrono- 
mer who  prepares  his  ephemerides,  the  marvellous  develop- 
ments of  his  child.  Until  this  is  done  there  can  be  no 
solid  basis  for  reasoning  ;  we  must  still  deal  with  conjec- 
ture." And  why  has  nothing  been  done  ?  Because,  in  the 
prevailing  system  of  culture,  the  art  of  observation,  which 
is  the  beginning  of  all  true  science,  the  basis  of  all  in- 
tellectual discrimination,  and  the  kind  of  knowledge  which 
is  necessary  to  interpret  these  observations;  are  universally 
neglected.  Our  teachers  mostly  belong  to  the  old  dispensa- 
tion. Their  preparation  is  chiefly  literary  ;  if  they  obtain 
a  little  scientific  knowledge,  it  is  for  the  purpose  of  com- 
municating it,  and  not  as  a  means  of  tutorial  guidance. 
Their  art  is  a  mechanical  routine,  and  hence,  very  naturally, 
while  admitting  the  importance  of  advancing  views,  they 
really  cannot  see  what  is  to  be  done  about  it.  When  we 
say  that  education  is  an  affair  of  the  laws  of  our  being,  in- 
volving a  wide  range  of  considerations — an  affair  of  the 
air  respired,  its  moisture,  temperature,  density,  purity,  and 


On  the  Scientific  Study  of  Human  Nature.      481 

electrical  state ;  an  affair  of  food,  digestion,  and  nutrition  ; 
of  the  quantity,  quality,  and  speed  of  the  blood  sent  to  the 
brain  ;  of  clothing  and  exercise,  fatigue  and  repose,  health 
and  disease  ;  of  variable  volition,  and  automatic  nerve  ac- 
tion ;  of  fluctuating  feeling,  redundancy  and  exhaustion  of 
nerve  power ;  an  affair  of  light,  colour,  sound,  resistance ; 
of  sensuous  impressibility,  temperament,  family  history, 
constitutional  predisposition,  and  unconscious  influence ; 
of  material  surroundings,  and  a  host  of  agencies  which 
stamp  themselves  upon  the  plastic  organism,  and  reappear 
in  character  ;  in  short,  that  it  involves  that  complete  ac- 
quaintance with  corporeal  conditions  which  science  alone 
can  give — when  we  hint  of  these  things,  we  seem  to  be 
talking  in  an  unknown  tongue,  or,  if  intelligible,  then  very 
irrelevant  and  unpractical. 

That  our  general  education  is  in  a  deplorably  chaotic 
state,  presenting  a  medley  of  debased  ideals,  conflicting 
systems,  discordant  practices,  and  unsatisfactory  results, 
no  observing  person  will  question ;  that  this  state  of 
things  is  to  last  forever,  we  all  feel  to  be  impossible ; 
and  that  its  future  removal  can  only  come  through  that 
powerful  instrumentality  to  which  we  owe  advancement 
in  other  departments  of  social  activity,  is  equally  clear  to 
the  reflecting.  The  imminent  question  is,  How  may  the 
child  and  youth  be  developed  healthfully  and  vigorously, 
bodily,  mentally,  and  morally  ?  and  science  alone  can 
answer  it  by  a  statement  of  the  laws  upon  which  that  de- 
velopment depends.  Ignorance  of  these  laws  must  inevi- 
tably involve  mismanagement.  That  there  is  a  large 
amount  of  mental  perversion,  and  absolute  stupidity,  as 
well  as  of  bodily  disease,  produced  in  school,  by  measures 
which  operate  to  the  prejudice  of  the  growing  brain,  is  not 
to  be  doubted  ;  that  dulness,  indociiity,  and  viciousness, 
are  frequently  aggravated  by  teachers  incapable  of  dis- 
criminating between  their  mental  and  bodily  causes,  is  also 


482  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

undeniable  ;  while,  that  teachers  often  miserably  fail  to  im- 
prove their  pupils,  and  then  report  the  result  of  their  own 
incompetency  as  failures  of  nature,  all  may  have  seen,  al- 
though it  is  now  proved  that  the  lowest  imbeciles  are  no 
sunk  beneath  the  possibility  of  elevation. 

The  purpose  of  the  foregoing  remarks  has  been  to 
bring  forward  an  aspect  of  man  which  cannot  fail  to  have 
an  important  influence  upon  processes  of  instruction.  I 
have  endeavoured  to  illustrate  the  extent  to  which  Nature 
works  out  her  own  results  in  the  organism  of  man.  The 
numerous  instances  of  self-made  men,  who,  with  no  ex- 
ternal assistance,  have  risen  to  intellectual  eminence,  and 
the  still  more  marked  instances  where  students  have  forced 
their  way  to  success  in  spite  of  the  hindrances  of  an  irra- 
tional culture,  testify  to  the  power  of  the  spontaneous  and 
self-determining  tendencies  of  human  character,  while  the 
general  overlooking  of  this  fact  has  unquestionably  led  to 
an  enormous  exaggeration  of  the  potency  of  existing  educa- 
tional methods.  In  establishing  this  view,  science  both  limits 
and  modifies  the  function  of  the  instructor.  It  limits  it  by 
showing  that  mental  operations  are  corporeally  conditioned, 
that  large  regions  of  our  nature  are  beyond  direct  control, 
and  that  mental  attainment  depends  in  a  great  degree  upon 
inherited  capacity  and  organic  growth.  It  limits  it  by 
showing  that  ancestral  influences  come  down  upon  us  as  we 
enter  the  world,  like  the  hand  of  Fate ;  that  we  are  born 
well,  or  born  badly,  and  that  whoever  is  ushered  into  exist- 
ence at  the  bottom  of  the  scale,  can  never  rise  to  the  top, 
because  the  weight  of  the  universe  is  upon  him.  It  shows 
how  not  to  mistake  the  surface  effects  of  an  ostentatious 
system  for  a  thorough  informing  of  character  ;  how  not  to 
mistake  the  current  smattering  of  languages,  the  cramming 
for  examinations,  the  glossing  of  accomplishments,  the 
showy  and  superficial  pedantries  of  literature,  and  the 
labelling  of  degrees,  for  true  education. 


On  the  Scientific  Study  of  Human  Nature.      483 

The  office  of  the  teacher  is  thus  narrowed  but  not 
denied.  If  inherited  organization  is  a  factor  of  destiny 
never  to  be  cancelled,  there  is  another  factor  in  that  culture 
which  rests  upon  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  life  and 
character.  Science  modifies  the  tutorial  offices  by  disclos- 
ing the  direction  of  its  real  work,  and  guarding  against 
waste  of  effort,  and  specious  and  spurious  results — by 
showing  that  education  does  not  consist  in  the  acquisition 
of  knowledge  to  be  siphoned  into  the  intellectual  receivers 
of  the  schoolroom,  but  is  rather  to  direct  the  working  of  a 
mechanism  over  which  neither  its  owner  nor  his  teacher  is 
omnipotent — a  mechanism  in  which  effects  follow  causes, 
and  which  always  operates  according  to  law.  It  shows  the 
instructor  that  he  must  take  his  pupil  as  he  finds  him  ;  not 
a  mental  abstraction,  to  be  classed  with  other  "minds" 
and  worked  by  a  universal  formula,  but  a  personal  reality 
— a  part  of  the  order  of  Nature,  which  never  repeats  itself 
in  a  single  case  ;  a  being  with  individual  attributes  which 
are  inexorably  bound  within  the  limits  of  his  organization. 
It  therefore  demands  of  him  to  leave  the  lore  which  is 
glorified  by  tradition  until  he  has  thoroughly  grounded 
himself  in  the  elements  of  that  knowledge  of  human  nature 
— of  the  springs  of  action  and  the  conditions  and  possibili- 
ties of  real  improvement,  which  alone  can  confer  the 
highest  skill  in  quickening  the  intellect  and  moulding  the 
character. 

I  have  thus  attempted  to  prove  that  only  by  inverting 
the  rule  of  the  past,  which  exalted  the  mind  at  the  expense 
of  the  body,  and  bringing  the  resources  of  modern  induc- 
tion to  the  study  of  the  corporeal  organism,  can  we  arrive 
at  that  higher  and  clearer  knowledge  of  man,  which  will 
make  possible  anything  like  a  true  Science  of  Human 
Nature.  I  have  pointed  out  the  salutary  results  which 
have  already  flowed  from  this  method  in  the  crucial  test  of 
the  treatment  of  the  insane,  and  the  vast  benefits  which 


484  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

society  cannot  fail  to  reap  from  that  clearer  perception  of 
the  laws  of  vital  and  mental  limitations  which  recent  re- 
search has  so  decisively  established  ;  and  I  have  also  en- 
deavoured to  unfold  the  bearing  of  this  view  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  education ;  but  the  results  enumerated  are  far 
from  exhausting  the  broad  applicability  of  the  method. 
The  grand  characteristic  of  science  is  its  universality ; 
what  is  it,  indeed,  but  the  latest  report  of  the  human  mind 
on  the  order  of  Nature  ?  Its  principles  are  far-reaching 
and  all-inclusive,  so  that  when  a  knowledge  of  the  true 
constitution  of  man  is  once  attained,  it  confers  insight  into 
all  the  multitudinous  phases  of  human  manifestation.  The 
same  economy  of  power  which  science  confers  in  the 
material  world,  and  by  which  we  obtain  a  maximum  of 
effect  from  a  minimum  of  force,  she  confers  also  in  the 
world  of  mind.  When  we  have  mastered  the  laws  of 
physical  education  we  have  the  essential  data  for  dealing 
with  questions  of  mental  education,  and  these  steps  are  the 
indispensable  preparation  for  an  enlightened  moral  educa- 
tion. And  the  same  knowledge  of  the  organism  which 
shows  how  it  may  be  best  developed,  gives  also  the  clue  to 
the  understanding  of  its  aberrant  phenomena.  That  mys- 
terious ground  which  has  hitherto  been  the  hot-bed  of 
noxious  superstitions  and  dangerous  quackeries,  is  re- 
claimed to  rational  investigation,  and  the  remarkable 
effects  of  reverie,  ecstasy,  hysteria,  hallucinations,  spectral 
illusions,  dreaming,  somnambulism,  mesmerism,  religious 
epidemics,  and  other  kindred  displays  of  nervous  mor- 
bidity, find  adequate  explanation  in  the  ascertained  laws 
of  our  being.  This  kind  of  knowledge  is,  furthermore, 
not  only  of  the  highest  value  to  all  classes  for  practical 
guidance,  but  the  philosophical  students  of  man,  whether 
viewing  him  in  the  moral,  religious,  social,  aesthetic,  ethno- 
logical or  historic  aspects,  must  find  their  equal  and  indis- 
pensable preparation  in  the  mastery  of  the  biological  and 


On  the  Scientific  Study  of  Human  Nature.      485 

psychological  laws  which  can  alone  explain  the  nature  of 
the  subject  of  their  research. 

After  what  has  been  said,  it  will  not  be  supposed  that 
I  entertain  any  very  extravagant  expectations  of  the  im- 
mediate results  to  be  obtained  from  improved  methods  of 
dealing  with  human  nature.  On  the  contrary,  one  of  the 
most  impressive  lessons  of  science  is  that  permanent 
growths  are  slow,  and  that  there  are  limits  which  cannot 
be  overpassed.  Dealing  largely  with  causes  which  only 
work  out  their  results  in  the  fulness  of  time,  it  teaches 
patience,  hope,  and  labour  ;  and  not  the  least  of  its  salu- 
tary influences  will  be,  through  wholesome  discipline  of  the 
imagination,  and  a  rational  control  of  the  sympathies,  to 
check  the  waste  of  power  upon  impossible  projects,  and  re- 
strain those  enthusiasms  which  are  born  of  the  feelings 
rather  than  of  the  judgment.  Nor  do  I  believe  that  the 
perfectibility  of  the  human  race  is  at  hand  through  the 
teaching  of  a  little  more  physiology  in  schools,  or  that 
science  is  to  apply  a  calculus  to  human  actions,  and  thus 
supersede  the  common  sense  and  practical  judgments  of 
mankind.  That  there  is  a  vast  body  of  valid  knowledge 
concerning  the  nature  of  man  which  is  reduced  to  applica- 
tion, and  serves  for  the  management  of  conduct,  is  shown 
in  all  the  multifarious  aspects  of  social  activity  :  I  simply 
hold  that  this  knowledge,  valuable  as  it  is,  is  yet  imperfect 
— in  many  respects  deplorably  imperfect — and  must  grow 
to  a  higher  state  and  a  more  scientific  character  :  and  that 
the  organized  culture  of  the  present  age  is  bound  to  help 
and  not  to  hinder  this  tendency.  The  time,  I  think,  has 
come  for  demanding  that  the  curriculum  of  modern  liberal 
education  be  so  reconstructed  that  its  courses  of  study 
shall  have  a  more  direct  and  positive  bearing  upon  that 
most  desirable  end — a  clearer  understanding  of  the  Laws 
of  Human  Nature. 


III. 

WHAT   WE  MEAN  BY  SCIENCE. 

IN  the  plan  of  this  journal,*  scientific  subjects  are  to 
have  a  prominent  share  of  attention  ;  and  as  there  is  not  a 
little  confusion  in  the  popular  mind  as  to  the  ideas  con- 
veyed by  the  term  "  Science,"  it  is  desirable  to  get  a  defi- 
nite understanding  of  it.  At  all  events,  it  is  necessary  to 
indicate  as  clearly  as  possible  the  signification  which  will 
be  attached  to  the  word  in  these  pages. 

In  its  prevailing  use,  the  term  science  suggests  a  special 
kind  of  knowledge  which  is  different  from  common  knowl- 
edge, and  pertains  to  a  particular  class  of  subjects  which 
are  looked  upon  as  foreign  to  the  interests  of  common  life. 
It  is  generally  regarded  as  relating  to  external  or  physical 
objects,  and  calls  up  ideas  of  minerals,  insects,  drug  shops, 
or  electrical  exhibitions,  with  a  copious  literature  of  for- 
bidding terms.  In  conformity  with  this  notion,  the  science 
department  of  popular  journalism  usually  consists  of  a 
mass  of  items  thrust  into  an  obscure  place,  where  we  are 
briefly  informed  of  the  discovery  of  a  new  mineral  or  as- 
teroid, a  novel  chemical  process,  a  hitherto  undescribed 
zoophyte,  or  the  latest  inventive  exploit  in  the  way  of 
churns.  Science  has  its  periodicals  professedly  and 
pfoperly  devoted  to  the  technical  details  and  results  of  re- 
search. These  are  minced  and  sorted,  and  then  reproduced 
for  the  edification  of  the  public.  This  information  is  no 

*  Appletons'  Journal,  started  in  1869,  is  the  one  here  alluded  to. 

(486) 


What  we  Mean  by  Science.  487 

doubt  useful,  but,  to  offer  it  as  affording  any  just  idea  of 
science,  is  little  better  than  a  caricature.  The  time  has 
come  when  this  noble  term  should  be  redeemed  from  these 
degrading  associations,  and  made  to  stand  for  the  larger 
and  higher  things  which  it  now  truly  represents.  Science 
is  not  the  peculiar  property  of  a  few  curious  persons,  who 
spend  their  days  in  watching  bugs,  or  their  nights  in  watch- 
ing the  stars.  It  is  something,  on  the  contrary,  which  be- 
longs to  the  mind  itself ;  which  pertains  to  our  very  modes 
of  thinking,  and  therefore  concerns  everybody.  It  is  some- 
thing to  be  used  in  reading,  conversation,  and  business,  at 
home  and  in  the  street,  week  days  and  Sundays,  in  school^ 
at  the  lecture,  and  the  political  gathering.  Let  us  see  how 
this  is. 

The  literal  meaning  of  the  term  science  is  to  know. 
But  it  has  been  found  that  there  are  two  kinds  of  knowing: 
we  may  know  a  subject  loosely  and  vaguely,  or  with  clear- 
ness and  precision.  So  important  has  this  distinction  now 
become,  that  it  is  necessary  to  mark  it  in  language,  and  so 
the  word  science  has  come  to  be  applied  to  one  of  those 
kinds  of  knowledge  ;  it  means,  to  know  accurately.  In  the 
course  of  time  and  experience,  knowledge  slowly  passes 
from  the  indefinite  to  the  definite,  from  the  vague  to  the 
precise.  This  change  is  of  the  nature  of  a  growth,  and 
hence,  in  its  quality,  science  may  be  defined  as  the  higher  or 
more  perfect  stage  of  developing  knowledge. 

For  example,  men,  in  the  rudest  ages,  observed  that  the 
days  were  longer  in  summer  than  in  winter,  and  that  there 
was  a  constancy  in  the  relative  position  and  a  regularity  in 
the  movements  of  the  stars :  this  was  the  dim  beginning  of 
a  knowledge  which  has  grown  at  length  into  the  splendid 
science  of  astronomy.  So  it  was  known  to  everybody  that 
fuel  disappears  in  combustion,  and  that  stones  are  altered 
by  fire ;  and  these  vague  notions  have  been,  in  time,  un- 
folded into  the  science  of  chemistry.  In  like  manner,  it 


488  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

was  understood,  even  in  periods  of  earliest  barbarism,  that 
with  scarcity  the  price  of  food  rises  ;  and  that  bits  of  metal 
may  be  made  serviceable  to  carry  on  exchanges :  these 
were  the  germs  which  have  grown  into  a  body  of  definite 
and  connected  truths,  which  form  the  science  of  political 
economy.  Again,  at  the  earliest  dawn  of  intelligence,  men 
knew  that  objects  seen  together  are  apt  to  be  remembered 
together :  this  rudimental  fact  has  been  expanded  in 
modern  times  into  the  science  of  psychology. 

Such  being  the  essential  character  of  science,  the  ques- 
tion next  arises,  How  much  does  the  term  comprehend  ? 
Our  knowledge  of  Nature  is  all  of  this  growing  or  pro- 
gressive kind.  In  every  aspect  of  the  natural  world  the 
explanations  were  at  first  crude  and  imperfect,  and  have 
gradually  ripened  into  greater  distinctness  and  precision. 
We  are  thus  brought  to  the  full  breadth  of  meaning  of  the 
term  science,  which  is  nothing  less  than  the  latest  and 
truest  interpretation  of  the  order  of  the  world  at  which  the 
human  mind  has  arrived.  It  is  the  perfected  mode  of 
thinking  in  its  application  to  all  the  phenomena  of  Nature 
which  can  become  the  subjects  of  thought. 

But  it  will  be  asked,  What  do  you  mean  by  Nature  ? 
We  mean  the  whole  system  of  appearances — objects  and 
actions — by  whioh  we  are  surrounded  in  the  present  state 
of  being.  It  includes  the  entire  realm  of  existence  and 
activity,  material  and  mental,  with  all  their  interconnec- 
tions and  interactions,  which  constitute  the  environment  of 
man.  As  the  material  world  is  but  part  of  the  natural  or- 
der, physical  knowledge  is  but  a  part  of  science.  Our 
knowledge  of  mind  and  character,  of  the  springs  and  limits 
of  human  action,  of  the  relations  of  men  and  the  conditions 
of  social  welfare,  may  be  either  loose  and  confused,  or 
definite  and  accurate.  This  kind  of  knowledge  conforms 
equally  to  the  conditions  of  growth,  and  therefore  has  its 
true  scientific  aspects.  But  we  can  only  comprehend  the 


What  we  Mean  by  Science.  489 

present  attitude  of  the  subject  by  referring  to  the  re- 
lations which  subsist  among  the  various  departments  of 
thought. 

The  purely  physical  sciences,  corresponding  to  the 
material  phases  of  Nature,  are  the  simplest,  and  have  been 
developed  first.  By  studying  the  internal  or  atomic 
changes  of  matter,  the  science  of  chemistry  has  been  ar- 
rived at.  Inquiries  concerning  the  air  have  led  to  mete- 
orology, and  investigations  into  the  earth's  crust  have 
given  rise  to  geology.  But  the  intellectual  movement  thus 
exemplified  is  far  from  stopping  with  an  exploration  of 
material  phenomena.  Success  here  but  sharpens  the  mind 
for  the  further  research,  of  truth.  These  departments  of 
physical  study  have  their  highest  value  as  a  preparation 
for  something  beyond.  They  are  but  the  training  ground 
of  the  human  intellect  for  larger  spheres  of  inquiry.  The 
development  of  the  physical  sciences  has  produced  grand 
and  beneficent  results,  as  all  men  know.  But  the  advance 
of  industrial  civilization,  to  which  they  have  led,  is  far  from 
being  their  most  important  effect.  Nor  is  their  disclosure 
of  the  order  of  material  Nature,  by  which  man  has  been 
translated  from  the  darkness  of  ignorance  and  superstition 
into  the  light  and  hope  of  knowledge,  by  any  means  their 
strongest  claims  to  honour.  It  is  in  that  higher  education, 
and  nobler  discipline  of  the  human  mind,  which  can  alone 
qualify  it  to  enter  upon  the  more  exalted  questions  of  the 
real  nature  of  man  himself,  and  his  true  relations  to  the 
surrounding  world  and  to  his  fellow-men  ^  it  is  here  that 
the  nobler  function  of  the  physical  sciences  is  to  be  sought. 

That  accuracy  of  thinking,  which  it  is  the  business  of 
science  to  enforce,  has  led  to  the  detection  of  those  uni- 
formities in  the  course,  of  Nature  which  we  term  law.  More 
and  more  clearly  is  it  perceived  that  all  kinds  of  action  ex- 
emplify cause  and  effect,  and  therefore  conform  to  law ; 
and  more  and  more  apparent  is  it  also  becoming  that  all 


490  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

measures  of  improvement,  individual  and  social,  must  de- 
pend upon  our  thorough  understanding  and  vivid  realiza- 
tion of  the  conditions  and  laws  upon  which  all  improvement 
depends.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  know,  in  a  general  way, 
that  fresh  air  is  salutary  and  foul  air  injurious;  the  ap- 
preciation of  the  effects  must  be  so  clear  and  intense  as 
•to  control  action  like  an  instinct.  To  bring  about  this 
state  of  mind,  slowly,  of  course,  in  the  mass  of  the  peo- 
ple, is  the  duty  and  destiny  of  science.  Its  supreme  edu- 
cational office  is  to  teach  men  to  think  more  carefully 
and  closely  upon  whatever  subject  they  are  required  to 
think.  Its  larger  use  is  to  habituate  them  to  guard 
against  the  disturbing  influence  of  the  feelings  and  the 
warpings  of  prejudice,  to  look  beyond  the  immediate 
and  to  forecast  distant  consequences,  to  weigh  evidence 
and  avoid  those  errors  of  judgment  which  lead  to  rash  and 
mistaken  practice. 

Imperfect  knowledge  is  misleading  ;  the  more  accurate 
it  is,  the  better  it  serves  for  guidance.  But  this  is  no  more 
true  in  navigation  or  mining  than  it  is  in  commercial  busi- 
ness or  in  teaching.  The  subjects,  however,  are  in  some 
cases  simpler  than  in  others,  and  the  simpler  must  ob- 
viously serve  as  stepping  stones  to  the  more  complex.  It 
is  not  that  knowledge  is  to  be  carried  over  from  one  field 
to  another,  but  the  mental  training  acquired  in  one  field  is 
to  be  employed  in  another.  Granted  that  eminent  skill  in 
mathematics  will  not  be  a  suitable  preparation  for  a  judge, 
or  expertness  in  chemistry  qualify  for  the  intelligent  man- 
agement of  a  prison  ;  granted  that  the  knowledge  conferred 
by  scientific  studies,  as  at  present  arranged,  is  not  that 
demanded  in  dealing  with  the  practical  questions  of  every- 
day life  ;  the  fact  nevertheless  remains,  that  the  cultiva- 
tion of  scientific — that  is,  accurate — habits  of  thought  is  the 
best  preparation  for  action  in  all  circumstances  of  responsi- 
bility. 


IV. 

THE  RELIGIOUS    WORK   OF  SCIENCE. 

I  HAVE  been  asked  to  speak  on  this  occasion  upon  the 
important  subject  of  Religion  and  Science.  Much  has  been 
said  concerning  it,  and  much  more  will  have  to  be  said  before 
the  public  are  duly  instructed  as  to  the  relation  they  bear 
to  each  other.  I  have  had  no  time  to  prepare  anything  at 
all  worthy  the  greatness  and  interest  of  the  topic,  and  can 
only  offer  you  some  rough  suggestions,  very  hastily  drawn 
up,  concerning  one  of  its  aspects,  viz.,  The  Religious  Work 
of  Science.  There  is  deep  meaning  in  the  phrase  "revolu- 
tions of  thought,"  for  in  the  advance  of  opinion  ideas  not 
only  diverge,  but  they  go  round  to  opposite  positions  ;  they 
are  not  only  modified,  but  reversed,  and  propositions  long 
held  as  true  often  turn  out  to  be  not  only  erroneous,  but 
the  exact  opposite  of  the  truth.  The  earth,  for  example, 
was  first  supposed  to  be  flat — it  is  nowr  known  to  be  round ; 
it  was  long  believed  to  be  stationary — it  is  now  known  to 
be  in  rapid  motion ;  it  was  long  considered  as  of  very  re- 
cent origin — it  is  now  recognized  as  having  had  an  incal- 
culable antiquity.  Such  total  inversions  of  belief  are 
numerous  in  the  past  course  of  thought,  and  are  destined, 
I  suspect,  to  become  still  more  numerous  in  the  future.  I 
think  it  will  turn  out  that  our  present  subject  furnishes 
another  illustration  of  it.  Science  has  long  been  regarded 
and  is  still  widely  believed  to  be  the  antagonist  of  religion  ; 
the  time  is  not  distant  when  it  will  be  accepted  as  its  most 
powerful  ally  and  best  friend. 

(491) 


492  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

By  science  I  understand  that  knowledge  which  is  gained 
by  the  intellect  of  the  order  of  things  around  us,  of  which 
we  form  a  part,  and  of  the  laws  by  which  that  order  is  gov- 
erned. Religion  I  understand  essentially  to  be  the  feeling 
entertained  toward  that  Infinite  Being,  Power,  or  Cause,  by 
whatever  name  called,  of  which  all  things  are  the  manifesta- 
tion, and  which  is  regarded  and  worshipped  as  the  Creator 
and  Ruler  of  the  Universe.  It  is  the  office  of  science  to  ex- 
plore the  works  of  God;  of  religion  to  deal  with  the  senti- 
ments and  emotions  which  go  out  toward  the  Divine  Au- 
thor of  these  works.  But  if  praise  and  adoration  are  due  to 
the  Creator  because  of  the  harmony  and  grandeur  displayed 
in  the  creation,  are  not  they  working  to  distinctly  religious 
ends  who  reveal  to  us  these  grand  characteristics  of  Divine 
achievement  ?  To  whom  are  we  indebted  for  a  knowledge 
of  the  order  that  God  has  instituted  in  the  universe?  It  is 
to  the  men  whose  appreciation  of  it  has  been  so  high  that 
they  have  given  their  lives  to  the  discovery  of  its  truths ; 
and  if  these  truths  are  divine,  is  not  the  research  in  a  pre- 
eminent sense  a  religious  work  ?  Among  the  ancients  so 
little  was  known  of  the  operations  of  Nature  that  nothing 
like  a  general  order  or  system  of  laws  was  suspected.  The 
natural,  in  fact,  was  not  differentiated  in  conception  from 
the  supernatural.  The  whole  scheme  of  things  was  bedded  in 
superstition  and  mysticism,  and  the  human  mind  was  given 
over  to  the  conceits  and  absurdities  of  an  unbridled  imagi- 
nation. It  was  only  with  the  rise  of  modern  science,  in  the 
recent  centuries,  that  the  idea  of  an  order  of  Nature  began 
to  dawn  upon  the  world  of  thought.  Copernicus  led  the 
way  by  destroying  the  geocentric  astronomy,  and  with  it 
the  anthropocentric  system  of  ideas  that  had  grown  up 
around  it.  His  theory  of  the  planetary  motions  opened  the 
door  to  the  conception  of  their  true  laws  and  causes.  Kep- 
ler and  Galileo  verified  and  extended  his  work,  and  pre- 
pared the  way  for  Newton,  who  struck  out  the  universal 


The  Religious   Work  of  Science.  493 

law  of  attraction,  which  explains  the  celestial  harmonies. 
This  closed  the  first  great  scientific  epoch  by  the  establish- 
ment of  the  principle  of  natural  order  throughout  space. 
But  if  the  order  of  the  universe  prevails  through  space, 
must  it  not  also  prevail  through  time  ?  Inquiry  now  took 
a  new  direction,  the  current  widened,  new  sciences  arose, 
and  another  century  of  research  revealed  the  grand  truth 
that  the  system  of  order  and  law  is  as  vast  and  perfect  in 
its  time  relations  as  it  had  been  shown  to  be  in  the  relations 
of  space. 

This  mighty  revelation  of  the  workings  of  the  Infinite 
Power  we  owe  not  to  those  who  devoted  themselves  pro- 
fessionally to  the  exposition  of  the  plans  and  purposes 
of  God,  but  to  men  of  science  who  got  neither  sympathy 
nor  co-operation  from  that  class.  In  their  whole  course 
from  the  beginning  of  research,  the  scientific  students  of 
Nature  encountered  two  orders  of  obstacles.  The  first  per- 
tained to  the  character  of  the  work.  The  discovery  of  new 
truth  is  not  an  easy  thing ;  it  is  too  precious  to  be  had  for 
the  mere  asking.  Under  the  best  methods  it  is  -a  difficult, 
painful,  and  uncertain  pursuit,  while  the  methods  themselves 
were  only  attainable  through  long  experience.  Nor  is  it 
given  to  every  earnest  devotee  of  science  to  add  to  the  stock 
of  original  truth  :  while  thousands  strive,  but  few  secure  the 
prizes.  Moreover,  the  early  investigatots  were  embarrassed 
and  constantly  defeated  by  the  inherited  mass  of  errors  and 
prejudices  by  which  judgment  was  warped  and  the  mental 
vision  obscured.  The  idea  that  law  is  inflexible  and  uni- 
versal throughout  Nature  was  long  unrecognized,  and  the 
special  students  of  science  went  no  further  than  to  assume 
it  in  their  own  fields  of  investigation.  Added  to  these  diffi- 
culties was  the  widespread  and  deeply  rooted  feeling 
among  the  ignorant  masses — which  in  this  respect  compre- 
hend almost  everybody — that  existing  knowledge  was  suffi- 
cient, and  that  to  pry  into  the  mysteries  of  Nature  was  idle, 


494  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

if  not  irreverent  and  presumptuous.  Such  were  some  of 
the  necessary  obstacles  which  scientific  men  had  to  over- 
come in  their  religious  task  of  unfolding  the  divine  truths 
which  the  Creator  had  embodied  in  the  constitution  of  the 
world.  But  they  had  difficulties  to  encounter  of  another 
kind.  The  crude  primitive  ideas,  by  which  the  powers 
above  Nature  were  supposed  to  be  constantly  interfering 
with  its  operations,  were  borne  down  the  current  of  tradi- 
tion, and,  conforming  to  the  general  beliefs,  were  systemat- 
ically maintained  and  defended.  The  theologians  who 
claimed  to  be  authorized  expounders  of  the  divine  policy 
insisted  not  only  that  breaks  and  interruptions  of  the 
natural  order  occurred,  but  they  maintained  that  it  is  in 
these  breaches  of  it  that  the  Creator  is  to  be  most  con- 
spicuously and  impressively  seen.  Holding  that  the  nor- 
mal phenomena  are  of  small  concern,  while  their  ruptures 
alone  disclose  divine  intervention,  they  left  it  to  the  men 
of  science  to  work  out  the  natural  order  to  its  complete- 
ness, and  to  vindicate  the  Almighty,  whose  wisdom  is  wit- 
nessed not  in  the  violations  but  in  the  perfection  of  his 
works. 

Certainly  science  has  not  been  the  enemy  of  religion  in 
this,  but  it  is  equally  certain  that  theology  has  been  the 
adversary  of  science.  It  has  been  the  business  of  theology 
to  defend  accepted  Opinions,  and  it  has  been  the  business  of 
science  to  question  them  and  arrive  at  new  opinions.  What 
the  general  issue  has  been  would  seem  obvious,  but  upon 
this  parties  differ.  Prof.  Hitchcock,  at  the  Tyndall  banquet, 
said  :  "  It  seems  sometimes  as  though  science  and  religion 
had  met  in  a  very  narrow  path  on  a  dizzy  ridge,  and  were 
interlocking  their  antlers  in  a  struggle  that  must  be  fatal 
to  one  or  the  other  of  them.  If  it  comes  to  this,  I  think 
history  suggests  that  science,  and  not  religion,  must  go 
down  the  cliff."  Prof.  Huxley  thinks  differently.  In  his 
Lay  Sermons  he  remarks:  "It  is  true  that  if  philosophers 


The  Religious   Work  of  Science.  495 

have  suffered,  their  cause  has  been  amply  avenged.  Ex- 
tinguished theologians  lie  about  the  cradle  of  every  science 
as  the  strangled  snakes  beside  that  of  Hercules,  and  history 
records  that  whenever  science  and  orthodoxy  have  been 
fairly  opposed,  the  latter  has  been  forced  to  retire  from  the 
lists,  bleeding  and  crushed,  if  not  annihilated."  But  be  this 
as  it  may,  science  has  achieved  its  noble  work,  as  all  the 
world  now  testifies.  It  has  gained  supremacy  ov^r  the 
forces  of  Nature,  it  has  established  principles  for  the  guid- 
ance of  human  action,  it  has  liberated  the  human  mind 
from  the  paralyzing  fear  and  thralldom  of  superstition,  and 
opened  a  new  and  more  hopeful  dispensation  for  humanity. 
But  its  grandest  achievement  is  that  it  has  recreated  the 
universe  in  thought,  and,  by  elevating  and  expanding  man's 
conceptions  of  the  sphere  of  harmony  and  law,  has  exalted 
our  reverential  feelings  toward  the  Infinite  Power  by  which 
it  is  ordered  and  sustained.  So  profound  a  revolution  as 
science  has  accomplished  must  be  felt  in  every  department 
of  thought,  theological  as  well  as  others,  and  its  influence 
here  is  something  more  than  a  perturbation  ;  it  is  seen  in  a 
radical  modification  of  views.  Less  and  less  do  we  hear 
from  theologians  of  what  is  to  be  learned  from  the  lapses 
and  suspensions  of  physical  law,  and  more  and  more  of  the 
teachings  of  its  unbroken  order.  Theology  begins  to  ac- 
cord to  science  the  leadership  of  thought,  and  avows  her 
readiness  to  accept  whatever  science  can  establish  as  truth. 
Take  a  recent  case. 

Within  the  present  generation  scientific  men  have  pro- 
mulgated the  doctrine  that  the  universe  did  not  come  into 
existence  in  the  way  generally  believed,  but  that  it  has 
been  gradually  unfolded,  and  that  the  world  and  all  that  it 
contains  are  but  the  final  terms  in  an  immense  series  of 
changes  which  have  been  brought  about  by  natural  causes 
in  the  course  of  immeasurable  time.  No  theory  ever  before 
propounded  by  science  was  so  all-disturbing  as  this.  It  re- 


496  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

sets  all  the  problems  of  Nature  and  of  man.  If  evolution 
be  a  truth,  then  must  we  reconsider  all  the  questions  of 
physics  and  ryietaphysics  that  have  been  settled  under  the 
hypothesis  ttyat  all  things  came  recently  and  suddenly  into 
existence  as/  we  now  see  them.  If  evolution  be  true,  the 
standpoint/  of  all  philosophical  and  scientific  inquiry  must 
be  changed;  old  explanations  will  not  answer.  The  con- 
venticjfi  of  orthodox  theologians  just  held  in  this  city  did 
shirk  this  question  ;  they  gave  it  place  and  time  and 


provided  for  its  consideration.  A  distinguished  divine  was 
appointed  to  report  upon  it,  which  he  did  in  an  elaborate 
paper  on  "  The  Religious  Aspects  of  the  Doctrine  of  De- 
velopment." For  science  there  is  but  one  aspect  to  the 
question,  Is  it  true  ?  Theology  has  other  interests  to  con- 
sider, but  the  inquiry  into  its  bearings  presupposed  the 
possible  verity  of  the  theory.  Dr.  McCosh  does  not  deny 
it,  but  after  surveying  the  succession  of  plants  and  animals 
in  the  geological  epochs,  he  said  :  "  In  looking  at  these 
phenomena,  men  discover  everywhere  development  or  evo- 
lution. It  appears  in  inanimate  nature,  in  suns,  planets, 
and  moons  being  evolved  out  of  an  original  matter  in  a 
way  which  implies  that  the  earth  is  older  than  the  sun,  and 
must  have  existed  in  ages  and  had  light  shining  upon  it 
before  the  sun  took  his  solid  form.  It  is  a  characteristic  of 
organized  beings  to  produce  others  after  their  kind.  Those 
who  view  development  in  the  proper  light  see  in  it  only  a 
form  or  manifestation  of  law.  Gravitation  is  a  law  of 
contemporaneous  nature,  extending  over  all  bodies  simul- 
taneously —  over  sun,  moon,  and  stars  the  most  remote. 
Development  is  a  law  of  successive  nature,  and  secures 
a  connection  between  the  past  and  the  present,  and,  I 
may  add,  the  future,  securing  a  unity  and  it  may  be  a 
progression  from  age  to  age.  It  is  merely  an  exhibition 
of  order  running  through  successive  ages,  as  the  other 
is  of  order  running  through  coexisting  objects."  Dr. 


The  Religious   Work  of  Science.  497 

McCosh  then  points  out  that  there  are  difficulties  with  the 
doctrine,  and  adds:  "I  am  not  sure  that  religion  has  any 
interest  in  holding  absolutely  by  one  side  or  other  of  this 
question  which  it  is  for  scientific  men  to  settle.  I  am  not 
sure  that  religion  is  entitled  to  insist  that  every  species  of 
insect  has  been  created  by  a  special  fiat  of  God,  with  no 
secondary  agent  employed."  Dr.  McCosh  again  says:  "It 
is  useless  to  tell  the  younger  naturalists  that  there  is  no 
truth  in  the  doctrine  of  development,  for  they  know  that 
there  is  truth  which  is  not  to  be  set  aside  by  denunciation. 
Religious  philosophers  might  be  more  profitably  employed 
in  showing  them  the  religious  aspects  of  the  doctrine  of 
development,  and  some  would  be  grateful  to  any  who 
would  help  them  to  keep  their  old  faith  in  God  and  the 
Bible  with  their  faith  in  science." 

In  the  discussion  which  followed,  which  was  free  from 
bitterness,  and  which,  if  evincing  some  ignorance,  evinced 
also  a  wholesome  desire  for  knowledge,  one  of  the  dele- 
gates— the  Rev.  Dr.  Brown,  of  large  opportunities,  as  he 
represented  St.  Petersburg,  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  Ber- 
wick-upon-Tweed — declared  that,  as  a  botanist  of  twenty 
years'  standing,  he  accepted  the  development  hypothesis. 
Indeed,  he  declared  his  conviction  "  that  the  confirmation 
or  general  adoption  of  the  hypothesis  of  development  will 
ultimately  exercise  a  beneficial  influence  on  religion,"  which 
benign  influence  will  be  due  to  the  labours  of  the  scientific 
men  who  have  worked  the  truth  out  in  the  pitiless  hailstorm 
of  general  execration.  Dr.  Hodge,  of  Princeton,  the  Boaner- 
ges of  orthodoxy,  neither  denied  the  doctrine  of  evolution 
nor  denounced  its  believers  as  unchristian,  and  was  only  so- 
licitous about  its  theological  relations.  He  said  :  "  The  great 
question  which  divides  theists  from  atheists,  Christians  from 
unbelievers,  is  this,  Is  development  an  intellectual  process 
guided  by  God,  or  is  it  a  blind  process  of  unintelligible,  un- 
conscious force,  which  knows  no  end  and  adopts  no  means  ? " 
22 


498  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  most  retrograde  position  was 
taken  by  a  distinguished  man  of  science.  Dr.  Dawson,  the 
geologist,  proposed  to  relegate  the  question  to  scriptural  de- 
cision. Theologians  no  longer  claim  for  the  Bible  the  charac- 
ter of  an  infallible  scientific  text-book  ;  Dr.  Dawson  avowed 
it  as  his  authority  in  biology.  He  is  reported  to  have  said 
that  "  as  regards  varieties  Darwin  is  well  enough,  but  as 
regards  species  I  don't  believe  in  it,  because  it  comes  in 
conflict  with  the  Bible."  President  Anderson  was  willing 
to  admit  Darwinism,  not  as  an  established  fact  but  as  a 
working  hypothesis,  which  of  course  implied  that  it  co- 
ordinated the  facts  and  expressed  the  truth  more  perfectly 
than  any  other  view.  He  said  :  "  If  a  man  talks  to  me  about 
evolution  and  believes  in  a  God  that  unrolls  the  magnifi- 
cent plan  of  the  universe,  I  humbly  thank  God  for  such  a 
doctrine.  When  a  development  is  put  before  me  that  ex- 
cludes God,  I  don't  believe  a  word  of  it." 

We  certainly  cannot  complain  that  the  theologians  view 
the  subject  in  a  theological  light,  but  they  should  be  care- 
ful that  it  is  not  a  false  light.  What  would  Dr.  Anderson 
think  of  one  who  should  annex  the  condition  he  proposes 
to  the  acceptance  of  the  law  of  gravitation  or  the  atomic 
theory  ?  The  question  of  evolution  is  to  be  first  settled  by 
evidence  as  true  or  false,  and  this,  as  Dr.  McCosh  admits, 
it  belongs  to  science  alone  to  determine.  If  it  be  rejected 
by  science,  there  is  an  end  of  it  for  everybody ;  if  it  be  es- 
tablished, nothing  remains  for  theologians  but  to  adjust  it 
in  their  system  and  put  it  to  its  proper  theological  uses. 
We  are  here,  however,  chiefly  concerned  to  note  the  regis- 
ter of  advancing  liberality  among  the  evangelicals,  as  in- 
dicated by  the  discussion.  They  defer  to  science,  and  do 
not  shrink  from  the  most  obnoxious  theories,  as  research 
shows  them  to  be  true.  They  are  to  be  congratulated  on 
their  own  development,  which  is  so  marked  as  to  lend  no 
small  support  to  the  hypothesis.  Twenty  years  ago  Dr. 


The  Religious   Work  of  Science.  499 

Brown  would  have  been  ejected  from  such  a  convention  by 
explosive  indignation,  as  leprous  with  heresy  ;  and  if  things 
proceed  at  this  rate,  in  twenty  years  more  we  shall  expect 
to  see  the  whole  Alliance  rise  to  its  feet  in  expression  of 
respect  and  gratitude  when  the  names  of  Spencer  and 
Darwin  are  mentioned.  I  believe  myself  that  evolution  is 
a  grand  objective  truth  of  the  universe,  still  much  obscured 
and  beset  with  difficulties,  but  unmistakably  outlined  and 
supported  by  a  mass  of  evidence  that  preponderates  over- 
whelmingly. In  a  religious  point  of  view  it  has  but  one 
significance.  Offering  a  grander  conception  of  the  cos- 
mical  order  and  a  deeper  insight  into  its  wonderful  workings 
than  had  ever  before  been  attained,  it  is  the  sublimest  trib- 
ute that  the  human  mind  has  ever  made  to  the  glory  of  the 
Divine  Power  to  which  it  must  be  ascribed.  With  the  ac- 
ceptance of  evolution  the  unworthy  philosophy  which  has 
sought  to  honour  God  by  the  derangements  of  his  own 
work  comes  to  an  end,  and  the  argument  passes  into  a  new 
phase.  This  we  owe  to  science,  and  there  is  encouraging 
evidence  that  theologians  even  of  the  orthodox  stamp  are 
beginning  to  appreciate  it  and  to  be  powerfully  influenced 
by  it.  Let  me  give  an  example  of  the  large  and  enlightened 
views  which  we  now  frequently  hear  from  orthodox  pulpits. 
In  a  sermon  preached  before  the  British  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Science,  in  Edinburgh,  1871,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Caird,  now  principal  of  Glasgow  University,  said : 
"  When  God  was  so  conceived  as  to  place  him  outside  of 
Nature  the  tendency  would  be  to  seek  the  most  significant 
proof  of  his  presence  in  interferences  with  her  order,  and 
to  regard  the  assertion  of  the  absolute  uniformity  of  her 
processes  as  equivalent  to  a  denial  of  Providence  or  the  ex- 
clusion of  God."  And  there  could  be  no  question  that  a 
false  jealousy  had  often  been  entertained  by  sincere  but 
mistaken  religionists  with  reference  to  the  idea  of  natural 
law  and  the  ever-widening  domain  which  science  had  won 


500  Edward  Livingston  You  mans. 

for  it.  There  was  a  stage  of  mental  development  in  which 
every  unexplained  fact  or  phenomenon  was  translated  into 
the  direct  expression  of  a  divine  will  and  purpose.  But  as 
knowledge  advanced  the  domain  of  the  marvellous  was 
driven  further  and  further  back,  and  innumerable  effects, 
accounted  for  at  first  only  by  immediate  supernatural 
agency,  began  to  be  traced  to  the  operation  of  natural 
causes.  Fixed  sequences  and  relations  displaced  isolated 
facts,  and  law  began  to  take  the  place  of  arbitrariness  and 
caprice.  And  so  step  by  step,  as  irregularity  disappeared 
and  science  shed  on  Nature  its  all-penetrating  light,  the 
darkness  in  which  superstition  lived  was  chased  away,  and 
its  divinities  exorcised  from  the  world.  But  as  the  process 
went  on,  it  had  unfortunately  sometimes  happened  that 
sincere  but  unenlightened  friends  of  religion  had  exhibited 
that  jealousy  of  science  which  only  superstition  had  just 
cause  to  feel.  The  conflict  on  this  ground  between  science 
and  theology  was,  however,  a  purely  imaginary  one.  In 
the  observation  of  Nature  and  the  tracing  out  of  her 
uniform  sequences  and  laws  there  was,  rightly  viewed, 
nothing  that  led  to  the  suppression  of  a  higher  faith,  and 
such  an  influence  could  only  be  ascribed  to  scientific  pur- 
suits by  setting  up  in  the  mind  a  false  opposition  between 
law  and  personality.  Men  wanted  to  trace  a  personal 
thought  and  agency,  the  marks  of  spiritual,  supernatural 
presence  in  the  universe.  But  the  unreflecting  mind  was 
apt  to  associate  personality  with  mere  will,  and  to  attach 
to  fixed  movement,  unbending  order  and  adjustment,  the 
notion  of  something  mechanical,  of  a  blind,  material 
necessity,  over  which  it  was  the  prerogative  of  a  per- 
sonal intelligence  to  assert  its  superiority.  This  notion 
was  obviously  one  which  deeper  reflection  and  higher  in- 
tellect would  tend  to  remove.  For  the  more  men  ad- 
vanced in  intelligence,  the  more  clearly  did  they  begin  to 
see  that  it  was  only  a  vulgar  necessity  of  thought  which 


The  Religious   Work  of  Science.  501 

identified  personality  with  changefulness,  and  arbitrariness 
with  sudden  paroxysmal  acts  and  special  interferences. 

What,  then,  I  ask,  to  a  thoughtful  observer,  would 
be  the  kind  of  phenomena,  the  aspect  of  things  and 
events,  which  would  look  most  like  the  signs  of  a  per- 
sonality and  a  will  in  Nature  ?  Surely  these  phenomena 
and  that  aspect,  from  which  the  indications  of  anomaly 
were  most  completely  banished,  and  throughout  which, 
from  beginning  to  end,  reigned  calm  and  changeless 
order,  unbroken  sequence  and  continuity,  the  majestic 
presence  of  power  and  law.  Even  if  the  modern  theory  of 
evolution  were  conclusively  established;  even  if  it  were 
proved  that  as  surely  as  the  germ  contains  virtually  the 
full-grown  plant,  the  whole  history  of  the  material  universe 
was  potentially  contained  in  the  first  atom,  or  "cosmic 
vapor,"  and  that  not  a  single  act  of  what  was  erroneously 
designated  supernatural  creative  power  had  ever  been  in- 
tercalated into  it,  so  far  from  excluding,  this  would  only 
be  more  profoundly  consistent  with  the  agency  of  an  abso- 
lutely personal  intelligence.  For  it  would  be  only  more 
fully  significant  of  an  intelligence  in  which  the  end  was 
ever  presupposed  in  the  beginning,  and  the  beginning  surely 
prophetic  of  the  end;  and  all  things  were  woven  together 
by  the  grand  necessities  of  thought. 

Thus  is  it  confessed  that  the  inflexible  order  of  the  uni- 
verse, as  discovered  and  proclaimed  by  science,  bears  the 
loftiest  witness  to  its  Divine  Creator,  and  the  revolution  of 
thought  is  complete.  For  the  view  long  held  as  religious, 
science  has  substituted  a  view  that  is  more  eminently  re- 
ligious. Shall  we  deny,  then,  that  those  who  are  deepening 
and  widening  our  conceptions  of  the  realm  of  natural  truth, 
are  doing  an  essentially  religious  work  ?  And  may  it  not 
be  that  the  constructors  of  the  philosophy  of  evolution 
are  entitled  to  a  leading  place  among  the  evangelists  of 
our  time  ? 


V. 


HERBERT  SPENCER  AND    THE  DOCTRINE 
OF  EVOLUTION. 

THE  change  that  has  taken  place  in  the  world  of 
thought  within  our  own  time,  regarding  the  doctrine  of 
Evolution,  is  something  quite  unprecedented  in  the  history 
of  progressive  ideas.  Twenty  years  ago  that  doctrine  was 
almost  universally  scouted  as  a  groundless  and  absurd 
speculation  ;  now,  it  is  admitted  as  an  established  principle 
by  many  of  the  ablest  men  of  science,  and  is  almost  univer- 
sally conceded  to  have  a  basis  of  truth,  whatever  form  it 
may  ultimately  take.  It  is,  moreover,  beginning  to  exert 
a  powerful  influence  in  the  investigation  and  mode  of  con- 
sidering many  subjects  ;  while  those  who  avow  their  belief 
in  it  are  no  longer  pointed  at  as  graceless  reprobates  or  in- 
corrigible fools. 

With  this  general  reversal  of  judgment  regarding  the 
doctrine,  and  from  the  prominence  it  has  assumed  as  a 
matter  of  public  criticism  and  discussion,  there  is  naturally 
an  increasing  interest  in  the  question  of  its  origin  and 
authorship  ;  and  also,  as  we  might  expect,  a  good  deal  of 
misapprehension  about  it.  The  name  of  Herbert  Spencer 
has  been  long  associated  in  the  public  mind  with  the  idea 
of  Evolution.  And  while  that  idea  was  passing  through 
what  may  be  called  its  stage  of  execration,  there  was  no 
hesitancy  in  according  to  him  all  the  infamy  of  its  pater- 
nity ;  but  when  the  infamy  is  to  be  changed  to  honour,  by 
a  kind  of  perverse  consistency  of  injustice  there  turns  out 
to  be  a  good  deal  less  alacrity  in  making  the  revised  award. 

(502) 


Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  503 

That  the  system  of  doctrine  put  forth  by  Mr.  Spencer  would 
meet  with  strong  opposition  was  inevitable.  Representing 
the  most  advanced  opinions,  and  disturbing  widely  cher- 
ished beliefs  at  many  points,  it  was  natural  that  it  should 
be  strenuously  resisted  and  unsparingly  criticised.  Nor 
is  this  to  be  regretted,  as  it  is  by  conflict  that  truth  is 
elicited;  and  those  who,  after  candid  examination,  hold 
his  teachings  to  be  erroneous  and  injurious,  are  certainly 
justified  in  condemning  them.  With  such,  at  the  present 
time,  I  have  no  controversy,  but  propose  to  deal  with  quite 
another  class  of  critics.  There  are  men  of  eminence,  lead- 
ers of  opinion,  who  neither  know  nor  care  much  for  what 
Mr.  Spencer  thinks  or  has  done,  but  are  quite  ready  with 
their  verdicts  about  him  ;  and,  so  long  as  it  is  not  gener- 
ally known  to  what  an  extent  we  are  indebted  to  him  for 
having  originated  and  elaborated  the  greatest  doctrine  of 
the  age,  these  superficial  and  careless  deliverances  from 
conspicuous  men  become  very  misleading  and  injurious. 
By  many  he  is  regarded  as  only  a  clever  and  versatile 
essayist,  ambitious  of  writing  upon  everything,  and  who 
has  done  something  to  popularize  the  views  of  Mr.  Darwin 
and  other  men  of  science.  For  example,  M.  Taine,  in  a  late 
Paris  journal,  says  :  "  Mr.  Spencer  possesses  the  rare  merit 
of  having  extended  to  the  sum  of  phenomena — to  the 
whole  history  of  Nature  and  of  mind — the  two  master 
thoughts  which,  for  the  past  thirty  years,  have  been  giving 
new  form  to  the  positive  sciences ;  the  one  being  Mayer 
and  Joule's  Conservation  of  Energy,  the  other  Darwin's 
Natural  Selection."  Colonel  Higginson  says:  *  "Mr.  Spen- 
cer has  what  Talleyrand  calls  the  weakness  of  omniscience, 
and  must  write  not  alone  on  astronomy,  metaphysics,  and 
banking,  but  also  on  music,  on  dancing,  on  style."  And 
again  :  "  It  seems  rather  absurd  to  attribute  to  him,  as  a 

*  Estimating  Spencer,  in  The  Friend  of  Progress,  1864. 


504  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

scientific  achievement,  any  vast  enlargement  or  further 
generalization  of  the  modern  scientific  doctrine  of  evolu- 
tion." To  the  same  effect,  Mr.  Emerson,  when  recently 
called  upon  by  a  newspaper  interviewer  to  furnish  his 
opinions  of  great  men,  declared  Mr.  Spencer  to  be  nothing 
better  than  a  "  stock  writer,  who  writes  equally  well  upon 
all  subjects." 

These  are  not  the  circumspect  and  instructive  utter- 
ances which  we  should  look  for  from  men  of  authority 
whose  opinions  are  sought  and  valued  by  the  public ;  they 
are  gross  and  inexcusable  misrepresentations,  and  exem- 
plify a  style  of  criticism  that  is  now  so  freely  indulged  in 
that  it  requires  to  be  met,  in  the  common  interest  of  jus- 
tice and  truth.  By  their  estimates,  of  Mr.  Spencer,  the 
gentlemen  quoted  have  raised  the  question  of  his  position 
as  a  thinker,  and  the  character  and  claims  of  his  intellec- 
tual work.  I  follow  their  lead,  and  propose,  on  the  present 
occasion,  to  bring  forward  some  considerations  which  may 
help  to  a  more  trustworthy  judgment  upon  the  subject. 
Assuming  the  foregoing  statements  to  be  representative, 
it  will  be  worth  while  to  see  what  becomes  of  them  under 
examination.  My  object  will  be,  less  to  expound  or  to 
defend  Mr.  Spencer's  views,  than  to  trace  his  mental  his- 
tory, and  the  quality  and  extent  of  his  labours  as  disclosed 
by  an  analysis  and  review  of  his  published  writings. 

And  first,  let  us  glance  at  the  general  condition  of 
thought  in  relation  to  the  origination  of  things  when  he 
began  its  investigation.  Character  is  tested  by  emergen- 
cies, as  well  in  the  world  of  ideas  as  in  the  world  of  action ; 
and  it  is  by  his  bearing  in  one  of  the  great  crises  of  our 
progressive  knowledge  of  Nature  that  Mr.  Spencer  is  to  be 
measured. 

Down  to  the  early  part  of  the  present  century  it  had 
generally  been  believed  that  this  world,  with  all  that  it 
contains,  was  suddenly  called  into  existence  but  a  few 


Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  505 

thousand  years  ago  in  much  the  same  condition  as  we  now 
see  it.  Throughout  Christendom  it  was  held  with  the 
earnestness  of  religious  conviction,  that  the  universe  was 
a  Divine  manufacture,  made  out  of  nothing  in  a  week,  and 
set  at  once  to  running  in  all  its  present  perfection.  This 
doctrine  was  something  more  than  a  mere  item  of  faith  ; 
it  was  a  complete  theory  of  the  method  of  origin  of  natural 
things,  and  it  gave  shape  to  a  whole  body  of  science,  phi- 
losophy, and  common  opinion,  which  was  interpreted  in  ac- 
cordance with  this  theory.  The  problem  of  origins  was 
thus  authoritatively  solved,  and  life,  mind,  man,  and  all 
Nature,  were  studied  under  the  hypothesis  of  their  late  and 
sudden  production. 

But  it  was  difficult  to  inquire  into  the  existing  order  of 
Nature  without  tracing  it  backward.  Modern  science  was 
long  restrained  from  this  procedure  by  the  power  of  tradi- 
tional beliefs,  but  the  force  of  facts  and  reasoning  at  length 
proved  too  strong  for  these  beliefs,  and  it  was  demon- 
strated that  the  prevailing  notion  concerning  the  recent  ori- 
gin of  the  world  was  not  true.  Overwhelming  evidence  was 
found  that  the  universe  did  not  come  into  existence  in  the 
condition  in  which  we  now  see  it,  nor  in  anything  like  that 
condition  ;  but  that  the  present  order  of  things  is  the  out- 
come of  a  vast  series  of  changes  running  back  to  an  indefi- 
nite and  incalculable  antiquity.  It  was  proved  that  the 
present  forms  and  distributions  of  mountains,  valleys,  con- 
tinents, and  oceans,  are  but  the  final  terms  of  a  stupendous 
course  of  transformations  to  which  the  crust  of  the  earth 
has  been  subjected.  It  was  also  established,  that  life  has 
stretched  back  for  untold  millions  of  years ;  that  multitudes 
of  its  forms  arose  and  perished  in  a  determinate  succession, 
while  the  last  appearing  are  highest  in  grade,  as  if  by  some 
principle  of  order  and  progression. 

It  is  obvious  that  one  of  the  great  epochs  of  thought 
had  now  been  reached  ;  for  the  point  of  view  from  which 


506  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

natural  things  are  to  be  regarded  was  fundamentally  and 
forever  altered.  But,  as  it  is  impossible  to  escape  at  once 
and  completely  from  the  dominion  of  old  ideas,  the  full 
import  of  the  position  was  far  from  being  recognized,  and 
different  classes  of  the  thinking  world  were  naturally  very 
differently  affected  by  the  new  discoveries.  To  the  mass 
of  people  who  inherit  their  opinions  and  rarely  inquire 
into  the  grounds  upon  which  they  rest,  the  changed  view 
was  of  no  moment ;  nor  had  the  geological  revelations 
much  interest  to  the  literary  classes  beyond  that  of  bare 
curiosity  about  strange  and  remote  speculations.  To  the 
theologians,  however,  the  step  that  had  been  taken  was  of 
grave  concern.  They  were  the  proprietors  of  the  old  view  ; 
they  claimed  for  it  supernatural  authority,  and  strenuously 
maintained  that  its  subversion  would  be  the  subversion  of 
religion  itself.  They  maintained,  moreover,  that  the  con- 
troversy involved  the  very  existence  of  God.  The  most 
familiar  conception  of  the  Deity  was  that  of  a  Creator,  and 
creation  was  held  to  mean  the  grand  six-day  drama  of  call- 
ing the  universe  into  existence  ;  while  this  transcendent 
display  of  power  had  always  been  devoutly  held  as  alike 
the  exemplification  and  the  proof  of  the  Divine  attributes. 
How  deep  and  tenacious  was  the  old  error  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that,  although  it  has  been  completely  exploded  ;  al- 
though the  immeasurable  antiquity  of  the  earth  and  the 
progressive  order  of  its  life  have  been  demonstrated  and 
admitted  by  all  intelligent  people,  yet  the  pulpit  still  clings 
to  the  old  conceptions,  and  the  traditional  view  is  that 
which  generally  prevails  among  the  multitude.* 

To  men  of  science  the  new  position  was,  of  course,  in 
the  highest  degree  important.  It  was  stated  by  Prof. 
Sedgwick,  in  an  anniversary  address  to  the  Geological  So- 
ciety of  London  in  1831,  as  follows  :  "  We  have  a  series  of 

*  See  Note  A. 


Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  507 

proofs  the  most  emphatic  and  convincing  that  the  approach 
to  the  present  system  of  things  has  been  gradual,  and  that 
there  has  been  a  progressive  development  of  organic  struc- 
ture subservient  to  the  purposes  of  life."  The  traditional 
explanation  of  the  origin  of  the  world,  and  all  that  belongs 
to  it,  being  thus  discredited,  it  only  remained  to  seek 
another  explanation  :  If  it  has  not  been  done  one  way,  how 
has  it  been  done  ?  was  the  inevitable  question.  One  might 
suppose  that  the  effect  of  the  utter  breakdown  of  the  old 
hypothesis  would  have  been  to  relegate  the  whole  question 
to  the  sphere  of  science,  but  this  was  far  from  being  done. 
The  preternatural  solution  had  failed,  but  its  only  logical 
alternative,  a  natural  solution,  or  the  thorough  investi- 
gation of  the  subject  on  principles  of  causation,  was  not 
adopted  or  urged.  The  geologists  occupied  themselves  in 
extending  observations  and  accumulating  facts  rather  than 
in  working  out  any  comprehensive  scientific  or  philosoph- 
ical principles  from  the  new  point  of  view.  The  result 
was  a  kind  of  tacit  compromise  between  the  contending 
parties — the  theologians  conceding  the  vast  antiquity  of 
the  earth,  and  the  geologists  conceding  preternatural  in- 
tervention in  the  regular  on-working  of  the  scheme ;  so 
that  in  place  of  one  mighty  miracle  of  creation  occurring  a 
few  thousand  years  ago,  there  was  substituted  the  idea  of 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  separate  miracles  of  special 
creation  scattered  all  along  the  geological  ages,  to  account 
for  the  phenomena  of  terrestrial  life.  Two  systems  of 
agencies — natural  and  supernatural — were  thus  invoked  to 
explain  the  production  of  effects.  What  it  now  concerns 
us  to  note  is,  that  the  subject  had  not  yet  been  brought 
into  the  domain  of  science.  One  portion  of  it  was  still 
held  to  be  above  Nature,  and  therefore  inaccessible  to  ra- 
tional inquiry  ;  while  that  part  of  the  problem  which  was 
withheld  from  science  was  really  the  key  to  the  whole  sit- 
uation. Under  the  new  view  the  question  of  the  origin  of 


508  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

living  forms,  or  of  the  action  of  natural  agencies  in  their 
production,  was  as  completely  barred  to  science  as  it  had 
formerly  been  under  the  literal  Mosaic  interpretation  ;  and, 
as  questions  of  origin  were  thus  virtually  interdicted,  the 
old  traditional  opinions  regarding  the  genesis  of  the  present 
constitution  of  things  remained  in  full  force. 

It  is  in  relation  to  this  great  crisis  in  the  course  of  ad- 
vancing thought  that  Herbert  Spencer  is  to  be  regarded. 
Like  many  others,  he  assumed,  at  the  outset,  that  the  study 
of  the  whole  phenomenal  sphere  of  Nature  belongs  to  sci- 
ence ;  but  he  may  claim  the  honour  of  being  the  first  to 
discern  the  full  significance  of  the  new  intellectual  posi- 
tion. It  had  been  proved  that  a  vast  course  of  orderly 
changes  in  the  past  has  led  up  to  the  present,  and  is  lead- 
ing on  to  the  future :  Mr.  Spencer  saw  that  it  was  of 
transcendent  moment  that  the  laws  of  these  changes  be 
determined.  If  natural  agencies  have  been  at  work  in 
vast  periods  of  time  to  bring  about  the  present  condition 
of  things,  he  perceived  that  a  new  set  of  problems  of  im- 
mense range  and  importance  is  opened  to  inquiry,  the  effect 
of  which  must  be  to  work  an  extensive  revolution  of  ideas. 
It  was  apparent  to  him  that  the  hitherto  forbidden  ques- 
tion as  to  how  things  have  originated  had  at  length  come 
to  be  the  supreme  question.  When  the  conception  that  the 
present  order  had  been  called  into  being  at  once  and  in  all 
its  completeness  was  found  to  be  no  longer  defensible,  it 
was  claimed  that  it  makes  no  difference  how  it  originated 
— that  the  existing  system  is  the  same  whatever  may  have 
been  its  source.  Mr.  Spencer  saw,  on  the  contrary,  that 
the  question  how  things  have  been  caused  is  fundamental ; 
and  that  we  can  have  no  real  understanding  of  what  they 
are,  without  first  knowing  how  they  came  to  be  what  they 
are.  Starting  from  the  point  of  view  made  probable  by 
the  astronomers,  and  demonstrated  by  the  geologists,  that, 
in  the  mighty  past,  Nature  has  conformed  to  one  system 


Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  509 

of  laws ;  and  assuming  that  the  existing  order,  at  any 
time,  is  to  be  regarded  as  growing  out  of  a  pre-existing 
order,  Mr.  Spencer  saw  that  nothing  remained  for  science 
but  to  consider  all  the  contents  of  Nature  from  the 
same  point  of  view.  It  was,  therefore,  apparent  that  life, 
mind,  man,  science,  art,  language,  morality,  society,  gov- 
ernment, and  institutions,  are  things  that  have  under- 
gone a  gradual  and  continuous  unfolding,  and  can  be  ex- 
plained in  no  other  way  than  by  a  theory  of  growth  and 
derivation.  It  is  not  claimed  that  Mr.  Spencer  was  the 
first  to  adopt  this  mode  of  inquiry  in  relation  to  special 
subjects,  but  that  he  was  the  first  to  grasp  it  as  a  general 
method,  the  first  to  see  that  it  must  give  us  a  new  view  of 
human  nature,  a  new  science  of  mind,  a  new  theory  of 
society — all  as  parts  of  one  coherent  body  of  thought, 
and  that  he  was  the  first  to  work  out  a  comprehensive  philo- 
sophical system  from  this  point  of  inquiry,  or  on  the  basis 
of  the  principle  of  Evolution.  In  a  word,  I  maintain  Spen- 
cer's position  as  a  thinker  to  be  this  :  taking  a  view  of  Na- 
ture that  was  not  only  generally  discredited,  but  was  vir- 
tually foreclosed  to  research,  he  has  done  more  than  any 
other  man  to  make  it  the  starting  point  of  a  new  era  of 
knowledge. 

For  the  proof  of  this  I  now  appeal  to  his  works.  Let 
us  trace  the  rise  and  development  of  the  conception  of 
Evolution  in  his  own  mind,  observe  how  he  was  led  to  it 
and  how  he  pursued  it,  and  see  how  completely  it  pervades 
and  unifies  his  entire  intellectual  career.  Various  explana- 
tory details  that  follow  I  have  obtained  from  conversations 
with  Mr.  Spencer  himself;  but  the  essential  facts  of  the 
statement  are  derived  from  his  works,  and  may  be  easily 
verified  by  any  who  choose  to  take  the  trouble  of  doing  so. 

Mr.  Spencer  is  not  a  scholar  in  the  current  acceptation 
of  the  term  ;  that  is,  he  has  not  mastered  the  curriculum  of 
any  university.  Unbiased  by  the  traditions  of  culture,  his 


5io  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

early  studies  were  in  the  sciences.  Born  in  a  sphere  of  life 
which  made  a  vocation  necessary,  he  was  educated  as  a 
civil  engineer,*  and  up  to  1842,  when  he  was  twenty-two 
years  of  age,  he  had  written  nothing  but  professional  papers 
published  in  the  Civil  Engineer  and  Architects'  Journal. 
But  he  had  always  been  keenly  interested  in  political  and 
social  questions,  which  he  had  almost  daily  heard  discussed 
by  his  father  and  uncles.  In  the  summer  of  1842  he  began 
to  contribute  a  series  of  letters  to  a  weekly  newspaper,  the 
Nonconformist,  under  the  title  of  The  Proper  Sphere  of 
Government.  It  was  the  main  object  of  these  letters  to 
show  that  the  functions  of  government  should  be  limited 
to  the  protection  of  life,  property,  and  social  order,  leaving 
all  other  social  ends  to  be  achieved  by  individual  activities. 
But,  beyond  this  main  conception,  it  was  implied  through- 
out that  there  are  such  things  as  laws  of  social  develop- 
ment, natural  processes  of  rectification  in  society,  and  an 
adaptation  of  man  to  the  conditions  of  social  life.  The 
scientific  point  of  view  was  thus  early  assumed,  and  society 
was  regarded  not  as  a  manufacture  but  as  a  growth.  These 
letters  were  revised  and  published  in  a  pamphlet  in  1843. 

The  argument,  however,  was  unsatisfactory  from  its 
want  of  depth  and  scientific  precision,  and  Mr.  Spencer  de- 
cided in  1846  to  write  a  work  in  which  the  leading  doctrine 
of  his  pamphlet  should  be  affiliated  upon  general  moral 
principles.  By  reading  various  books  upon  moral  philoso- 
phy he  had  become  dissatisfied  with  the  basis  of  morality 
which  they  adopt ;  and  it  became  clear  to  him  that  the 
question  of  the  proper  sphere  of  government  could  be  dealt 
with  only  by  tracing  ethical  principles  to  their  roots.  The 
plan  of  this  work  was  formed  while  Mr.  Spencer  was  still  a 
civil  engineer;  and  it  was  commenced  in  1848,  before  he 
abandoned  engineering  and  accepted  the  position  of  sub- 

*  See  Note  B. 


Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  5 1 1 

editor  of  the  Economist.  It  was  issued,  under  the  title  of 
Social  Statics,  at  the  close  of  1850.  In  this  work  various 
developments  of  the  ideas  contained  in  the  pamphlet  above 
named  are  noticeable.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  conception 
that  there  is  an  adaptation  going  on  between  human  nature 
and  the  social  state  has  become  dominant.  There  is  the 
idea  that  all  social  evils  result  from  the  want  of  this  adap- 
tation, and  are  in  process  of  disappearance  as  the  adapta- 
tion progresses.  There  is  the  notion  that  all  morality  con- 
sists in  conformity  to  such  principles  of  conduct  as  allow  of 
the  life  of  each  individual  being  fulfilled,  to  the  uttermost, 
consistently  with  the  fulfilment  of  the  lives  of  other  indi- 
viduals ;  and  that  the  vital  activities  of  the  social  human 
being  are  gradually  being  moulded  into  such  form  that 
they  may  be  realized  to  the  uttermost  without  mutual  hin- 
drance. Social  progress  is  in  fact  viewed  as  a  natural 
evolution,  in  which  human  beings  are  moulded  into  fitness 
for  the  social  state,  and  society  adjusted  into  fitness  for 
the  natures  of  men — the  units  and  the  aggregate  perpet- 
ually acting  and  reacting,  until  equilibrium  is  reached. 
There  is  recognized  not  only  the  process  of  continual 
direct  adaptation  of  men  to  their  circumstances  by  the  in- 
herited modifications  of  habit ;  but  there  is  also  recognized 
the  process  of  the  dying  out  of  the  unfit  and  the  survival 
of  the  fit.  And  these  changes  are  regarded  as  parts  of  a 
process  of  general  evolution,  tacitly  affirmed  as  running 
through  all  animate  Nature,  tending  ever  to  produce  a 
more  complete  and  self-sufficing  individuality,  and  ending 
in  the  highest  type  of  man  as  the  most  complete  individual. 
After  finishing  Social  Statics  Mr.  Spencer's  thoughts 
were  more  strongly  attracted  in  the  directions  of  biology 
and  psychology — sciences  which  he  saw  were  most  inti- 
mately related  with  the  progress  of  social  questions ;  and 
one  result  reached  at  this  time  was  significant.  As  he 
states  in  the  essay  on  the  Laws  of  Organic  Form,  published 


512  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

in  1859  in  the  Medico-Chirurgical  Review,  it  was  in  the 
autumn  of  1851,  during  a  country  ramble  with  Mr.  George 
Henry  Lewes,  that  the  germinal  idea  of  that  essay  was 
reached.  This  idea,  that  the  forms  of  organisms,  in  re- 
spect of  the  different  kinds  of  their  symmetry  and  asym- 
metry, are  caused  by  their  different  relations  to  surround- 
ing incident  forces,  implies  a  general  recognition  of  the 
doctrine  of  Evolution,  a  further  extension  of  the  doctrine 
of  adaptation,  and  a  foreshadowing  of  the  theory  of  life 
as  a  correspondence  between  inner  and  outer  actions. 

In  1852  Mr.  Spencer  published  in  the  Westminster 
Review  the  Theory  of  Population  deduced  from  the  Gen- 
eral Law  of  Animal  Fertility,  setting  forth  an  important 
principle  which  he  says  that  he  had  entertained  as  far  back 
as  1847.  Here  also  the  general  belief  in  Evolution  was 
tacitly  expressed ;  the  theory  being  that,  in  proportion 
as  the  power  of  maintaining  individual  life  is  small,  the 
power  of  multiplication  is  great ;  that  along  with  increased 
evolution  of  the  individual  there  goes  decreased  power  of 
reproduction  ;  that  the  one  change  is  the  cause  of  the 
other  ;  that  in  man,  as  in  all  other  creatures,  the  advance 
toward  a  higher  type  will  be  accompanied  by  a  decrease  of 
fertility ;  and  that  there  will  be  eventually  reached  an  ap- 
proximate equilibrium  between  the  rate  of  mortality  and 
the  rate  of  multiplication.  Toward  the  close  of  this  argu- 
ment there  is  a  clear  recognition  of  the  important  fact  that 
excessive  multiplication  and  the  consequent  struggle  for 
existence  cause  this  advance  to  a  higher  type.  It  is  there 
argued  that  "  only  those  who  do  advance  under  it  even- 
tually survive"  and  that  these  "  must  be  the  select  of  their 
generation."  That  which,  as  he  subsequently  stated  in  the 
Principles  of  Biology,  Mr.  Spencer  failed  to  recognize  at 
this  time  (1852)  was  the  effect  of  these  influences  in  pro- 
ducing the  diwrsities  of  living  forms  ;  that  is,  he  did  not  then 
perceive  the  co-operation  of  these  actions  of  the  struggle 


Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  5 1 3 

for  existence  and  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  with  the  tend- 
ency to  variation  which  organisms  exhibit.  He  saw  only 
the  power  of  these  processes  to  produce  a  higher  form  of 
the  same  type,  and  did  not  recognize  how  they  may  give 
rise  to  divergencies  and  consequent  differentiations  of 
species,  and  eventually  of  genera,  orders,  and  classes. 

Early  in  1852  Mr.  Spencer  also  printed  a  brief  essay 
in  the  Leader,  on  The  Development  Hypothesis,  in  which 
some  of  the  new  current  reasons  for  believing  in  the 
gradual  evolution  of  all  organisms,  including  man,  are  in- 
dicated. To  this  paper  Mr.  Darwin  refers  in  the  intro- 
ductory sketch  of  the  previous  course  of  research  on  the 
subject  of  development,  which  he  prefixed  to  the  Origin  of 
Species.  In  this  essay,  however,  direct  adaptation  to  the 
conditions  of  existence  is  the  only  process  recognized. 

In  October  of  the  same  year  (1852)  Mr.  Spencer  pub- 
lished an  essay  in  the  Westminster  Review,  on  the  Phi- 
losophy of  Style,  in  which,  though  the  subject  appears  so 
remote,  there  are  traceable  some  of  the  cardinal  ideas  now 
indicated,  and  others  that  were  afterward  developed.  The 
subject  was  treated  from  a  dynamical  point  of  view,  and,  as 
Mr.  Lewes  remarks  in  his  essays  on  The  Principles  of  Suc- 
cess in  Literature,  it  offers  the  only  scientific  exposition  of 
the  problem  of  style  that  we  have.  The  general  theory  set 
forth  is,  that  effectiveness  of  style  depends  on  a  choice  of 
words  and  forms  of  sentence  offering  the  least  resistance 
to  thought  in  the  mind  of  the  reader  or  hearer — a  fore- 
shadowing of  the  general  law  of  the  "  line  of  least  resist- 
ance "  as  applied  to  the  interpretation  of  psychological 
phenomena,  as  well  as  phenomena  in  general.  Moreover, 
at  the  close  of  the  essay  there  is  a  reference  to  the  law  of 
Evolution  in  its  application  to  speech — there  is  a  recogni- 
tion of  the  fact  that  "  increasing  heterogeneity  "  has  been 
the  characteristic  of  advance  in  this  as  in  other  things,  and 
that  a  highly  evolved  style  will  "  answer  to  the  descrip- 


514  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

tion  of  all  highly  organized  products,  both  of  man  and  of 
Nature ;  it  will  be,  not  a  series  of  like  parts  simply  placed 
in  juxtaposition,  but  one  whole  made  up  of  unlike  parts 
that  are  mutally  dependent."  Here,  as  early  as  1852,  there 
is  recognized  in  one  of  the  highest  spheres  both  the  process 
of  differentiation  and  the  process  of  integration — the  two 
radical  conceptions  of  Evolution. 

In  July  of  the  next  year  (1853)  Mr.  Spencer's  continued 
interest  in  the  question  of  the  functions  of  the  state  led 
him  to  write  the  essay  on  Over-Legislation  in  the  West- 
minster Review  ;  and  here,  as  in  Social  Statics,  the  con- 
ception of  society  as  a  growth,  under  the  operation  of 
natural  laws,  is  predominant. 

The  critical  perusal  of  Mr.  Spencer's  works  shows  that 
this  was  a  very  important  period  in  the  development  of  his 
views.  The  reading  of  Mr.  Mill's  Logic  along  with  some 
other  philosophical  works  had  led  him  to  the  elaboration 
of  certain  opinions  at  variance  with  those  of  Mr.  Mill  on 
the  question  of  our  ultimate  beliefs,  and  those  he  published 
in  the  Westminster  Review,  under  the  title  of  The  Univer- 
sal Postulate  (1853).  The  inquiries  thus  commenced,  to- 
gether with  those  respecting  the  nature  of  the  moral  feel- 
ings, and  those  concerning  life  and  development,  bodily 
and  mental,  into  which  he  had  been  led  both  by  Social 
Statics  and  the  Theory  of  Population,  prepared  the  way 
for  the  Principles  of  Psychology.  Some  of  the  funda- 
mental conceptions  contained  in  this  remarkable  work 
now  began  to  take  shape  in  his  mind.  Other  ideas  con- 
nected with  the  subject  began  also  to  form  in  his  mind,  an 
example  of  which  is  furnished  by  the  essay  on  Manners  and 
Fashion,  published  in  the  Westminster  Review  (April,  1854). 
Various  traits  of  the  general  doctrine  of  Evolution  are 
here  clearly  marked  out  in  their  relations  to  social 
progress.  It  is  shown  that  the  various  forms  of  restraint 
exercised  over  men  in  society — political,  ecclesiastical,  and 


Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  5 1 5 

ceremonial — are  all  divergent  unfoldings  of  one  original 
form,  and  that  the  development  of  social  structure,  in  these 
as  in  other  directions,  takes  place  by  gradual  and  continu- 
ous differentiations,  "  in  conformity  with  the  laws  of  Evolu- 
tion of  all  organized  bodies." 

Mr.  Spencer  was  at  the  same  time  engaged  in  working 
out  his  view  in  a  different  sphere  ;  the  essay  on  the  Gen- 
esis of  Science  being  contributed  to  the  British  Quarterly 
Review  in  July,  1854.  This  was  primarily  called  forth  by 
Miss  Martineau's  Abridgment  of  Comte,  then  just  issued, 
and  was  in  part  devoted  to  the  refutation  of  the  French 
philosopher's  views  respecting  the  classification  of  the 
sciences.  But  it  became  the  occasion  for  a  further  de- 
velopment of  the  doctrine  of  Evolution  in  its  relation  to 
intellectual  progress.  The  whole  genesis  of  science  is 
there  traced  out  historically  under  the  aspect  of  a  body  of 
truths,  which,  while  they  became  differentiated  into  dif- 
ferent sciences,  became  at  the  same  time  more  and  more 
integrated,  or  mutually  dependent,  so  as  eventually  to 
form  "  an  organism  of  the  sciences."  There  is  besides  a 
recognition  of  the  gradual  increase  in  defmiteness  that 
accompanies  this  increase  in  heterogeneity  and  in  co- 
herence. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Mr.  Spencer's  views  on  psy- 
chology began  to  assume  the  character  of  a  system — the 
conception  of  intellectual  progress  now  reached  being  com- 
bined with  the  ideas  of  life  previously  arrived  at,  in  the  de- 
velopment of  a  psychological  theory.  The  essay  on  the 
Art  of  Education,*  published  in  the  North  British  Review 
(May,  1854),  assisted  in  the  further  development  of  these 
ideas.  In  that  essay  the  conception  of  the  progress  of  the 
mind  during  education  is  treated  in  harmony  with  the  con- 

*  Republished  in  his  little  work  on  Education,  under  the  title  of  Intel- 
lectual Education. 


516  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

ception  of  mental  Evolution  at  large.  Methods  are  con- 
sidered in  relation  to  the  law  of  development  of  the  fac- 
ulties as  it  takes  place  naturally.  Education  is  regarded 
as  rightly  carried  on  only  when  it  aids  the  process  of  self- 
development  ;  and  it  is  urged  that  the  course  in  all  cases 
followed  should  be  from  the  simple  to  the  complex,  from 
the  indefinite  to  the  definite,  from  the  concrete  to  the  ab- 
stract, and  from  the  empirical  to  the  rational. 

Having  reached  this  stage  in  the  unfolding  of  his  ideas, 
Mr.  Spencer  began  the  writing  of  the  Principles  of  Psy- 
chology in  August,  1854.  This  is  a  work  of  great  origi- 
nality, and  is  important  as  marking  the  advance  of  Mr. 
Spencer's  philosophical  views  at  the  time  of  its  preparation. 
The  whole  subject  of  mind  is  dealt  with  from  the  Evolu- 
tion point  of  view.  The  idea  which  runs  through  Social 
Statics,  that  there  is  ever  going  on  an  adaptation  between 
living  beings  and  their  circumstances,  now  took  on  a  pro- 
founder  significance.  The  relation  between  the  organism 
and  its  environing  conditions  was  found  to  be  involved  in 
the  very  nature  of  life ;  and  the  idea  of  adaptation  was  de- 
veloped into  the  conception  that  life  itself  "  is  the  definite 
combination  of  heterogeneous  changes  both  simultaneous 
and  successive  in  correspondence  with  internal  coexistences 
and  sequences."  It  is  argued  that  the  degree  of  life  varies 
with  the  degree  of  correspondence,  and  that  all  mental 
phenomena  ought  to  be  interpreted  in  terms  of  this  corre- 
spondence. Commencing  with  the  lowest  types  of  life,  Mr. 
Spencer,  in  successive  chapters,  traces  up  this  relation  of 
correspondence  as  extending  in  space  and  time,  as  increasing 
in  specialty,  in  generality,  and  in  complexity.  It  is  also 
shown  that  the  correspondence  progresses  from  a  more 
homogeneous  to  a  more  heterogeneous  form,  and  that  it  be- 
comes gradually  more  integrated — the  terms  here  em- 
ployed in  respect  to  the  Evolution  of  mind  being  the  terms 
subsequently  used  in  treating  of  Evolution  in  general.  In 


Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  5 1 7 

the  fourth  part  of  the  work,  under  the  title  of  Special  Syn- 
thesis, the  Evolution  is  traced  out  under  its  concrete  form 
from  reflex  action  up  through  instinct,  memory,  reason, 
feelings,  and  the  will.  Mr.  Spencer  here  distinctly  avowed 
his  belief  that  "  life  in  its  multitudinous  and  infinitely 
varied  embodiments  has  arisen  out  of  the  lowest  and  sim- 
plest beginnings,  by  steps  as  gradual  as  those  which  evolve 
a  homogeneous  microscopic  germ  into  a  complex  organism  " 
— dissent  being  at  the  same  time  expressed  from  that 
version  of  the  doctrine  put  forth  by  the  author  of  the  Ves- 
tiges of  the  Natural  History  of  Creation.  It  was,  more- 
over, shown  by  subjective  analysis  how  intelligence  may 
be  resolved,  step  by  step,  from  its  most  complex  into  its 
simplest  elements,  and  it  was  also  proved  that  there  is 
"unity  of  composition  "  throughout,  and  that  thus  mental 
structure,  contemplated  internally,  harmonizes  with  the 
doctrine  of  Evolution. 

It  was  at  this  time  (1854),  as  I  have  been  informed  by 
Mr.  Spencer,  when  he  had  been  at  work  upon  the  Princi- 
ples of  Psychology  not  more  than  two  months,  that  the 
general  conception  of  Evolution  in  its  causes  and  extent, 
as  well  as  its  processes,  was  arrived  at.  He  had  somewhat 
earlier  conceived  of  it  as  universally  a  transformation  from 
the  homogeneous  into  the  heterogeneous.  This  kind  of 
change,  which  Von  Baer  had  shown  to  take  place  in  every 
individual  organism,  as  it  develops,  Mr.  Spencer  had  already 
traced  out  as  taking  place  in  the  progress  of  social  arrange- 
ments, in  the  development  of  the  sciences,  and  now  in  the 
Evolution  of  mind  in  general  from  the  lower  forms  to  the 
higher.  And  the  generalization  soon  extended  itself  so  as 
to  embrace  the  transformations  undergone  by  all  things 
inanimate  as  well  as  animate.  This  universal  extension  of 
the  idea  led  rapidly  to  the  conception  of  a  universal  cause 
necessitating  it.  In  the  autumn  of  1854,  Mr.  Spencer  pro- 
posed to  the  editor  of  the  Westminster  Review  to  write 


518  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

an  article  upon  the  subject  under  the  title  of  The  Cause  of 
all  Progress,  which  was  objected  to  as  being  too  assuming. 
The  article  was,  however,  at  that  time  agreed  upon,  with 
the  understanding  that  it  should  be  written  as  soon  as  the 
Principles  of  Psychology  was  finished.  The  agreement 
was  doomed  to  be  defeated,  however,  so  far  as  the  date 
was  concerned,  for,  along  with  the  completion  of  the  Psy- 
chology, in  July,  1855,  there  came  a  nervous  breakdown, 
which  incapacitated  Mr.  Spencer  for  labour  during  a  period 
of  eighteen  months — the  whole  work  having  been  written 
in  less  than  a  year. 

We  may  here  note  Mr.  Spencer's  advanced  position  in 
dealing  with  this  subject.  While  yet  the  notion  of  Evolu- 
tion as  a  process  of  Nature  was  as  vague  and  speculative 
as  it  had  been  in  the  time  of  Anaximander  and  Democritus, 
he  had  grasped  the  problem  in  its  universality  and  its 
causes,  and  had  successfully  applied  it  to  one  of  the  most 
difficult  and  important  of  the  sciences.  He  had  traced  the 
operation  of  the  law  in  the  sphere  of  mind,  and  placed  that 
study  upon  a  new  basis.  The  conviction  is  now  enter- 
tained by  many  that  the  Principles  of  Psychology,  by  Spen- 
cer, in  1855,  is  one  of  the  most  original  and  masterly  scien- 
tific treatises  of  the  present  century  ;  if,  indeed,  it  be  not 
the  most  fruitful  contribution  to  scientific  thought  that  has 
appeared  since  the  Principia  of  Newton.*  For  thousands 

*  This  association  of  the  name  of  Spencer  with  Newton,  let  it  be  re- 
membered, does  not  rest  upon  the  authority  of  the  present  writer  ;  recent 
discussions  of  the  subject  in  the  highest  quarters  are  full  of  it.  The  .Sat- 
urday Review  says :  "  Since  Newton  there  has  not  in  England  been  a  phi- 
losopher  of  more  remarkable  speculative  and  systematizing  talent  than 
(spite  of  some  errors  and  some  narrowness)  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer."  An 
able  writer  in  the  Quarterly  Review,  in  treating  of  Mr.  Spencer's  remark- 
able power  of  binding  together  different  and  distant  subjects  of  thought 
by  the  principle  of  Evolution,  remarks  :  "  The  two  deepest  scientific  prin- 
ciples now  known  of  all  those  relating  to  material  things  are  the  Law  of 
Gravitation  and  the  Law  of  Evolution."  The  eminent  Professor  of  Logic  in 


Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  519 

of  years,  from  Plato  to  Hamilton,  the  world's  ablest 
thinkers  had  been  engaged  in  the  effort  to  elucidate  the 
phenomena  of  mind  ;  Herbert  Spencer  took  up  the  ques- 
tion by  a  method  first  rendered  possible  by  modern  sci- 
ence, and  made  a  new  epoch  in  its  progress.  From  this 
time  forward,  mental  philosophy,  so  called,  could  not  con- 
fine itself  simply  to  introspection  of  the  adult  human  con- 
sciousness. The  philosophy  of  mind  must  deal  with  the 
whole  range  of  psychical  phenomena,  must  deal  with  them 
as  manifestations  of  organic  life,  must  deal  with  them 
genetically,  and  show  how  mind  is  constituted  in  connec- 
tion with  the  experience  of  the  past.  In  short,  as  it  now 
begins  to  be  widely  recognized,  Mr.  Spencer  has  placed  the 
science  of  mind  firmly  upon  the  ground  of  Evolution. 
Like  all  productions  that  are  at  the  same  time  new  and 
profound,  and  go  athwart  the  course  of  long  tradition, 
there  were  but  few  that  appreciated  his  book,  a  single  small 
edition  more  than  sufficing  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  public 
for  a  dozen  years.*  But  it  began  at  once  to  tell  upon  ad- 
vanced thinkers,  and  its  influence  was  soon  widely  dis- 
cerned in  the  best  literature  of  the  subject.  The  man  who 
stood,  perhaps,  highest  in  England  as  a  Psychologist,  Mr. 
John  Stuart  Mill,  remarked  in  one  of  his  books,  that  it  is 
"  one  of  the  finest  examples  we  possess  of  the  psychological 
method  in  its  full  power  "  ;  and,  as  I  am  aware,  after  care- 
fully rereading  it  some  years  later,  he  declared  that  his  al- 
ready high  opinion  of  the  work  had  been  raised  still  more — 
which  he  recognized  as  due  to  the  progress  of  his  own  mind.f 

Owen's  College,  Manchester,  Mr.  W.  Stanley  Jevons,  in  his  recent  treatise 
entitled  The  Principles  of  Science  :  A  Treatise  on  Logic  and  Scientific 
Method,  says :  "  I  question  whether  any  scientific  works  which  have  ap- 
peared since  the  Principia  of  Newton  are  comparable  in  importance 
with  those  of  Darwin  and  Spencer,  revolutionizing  as  they  do  all  our 
views  of  the  origin  of  bodily,  mental,  moral,  and  social  phenomena." 
*  See  Note  C.  f  See  Note  D. 


520  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

The  article  Progress,  its  Law  and  Cause,  projected,  as 
we  have  seen,  in  1854,  was  written  early  in  1857.  In  the 
first  half  of  it  the  transformation  of  the  homogeneous  into 
the  heterogeneous  is  traced  throughout  all  orders  of  phe- 
nomena ;  in  the  second  half  the  principle  of  transformation 
is  deduced  from  the  law  of  the  multiplication  of  effects. 
In  this  essay,  moreover,  there  is  indicated  the  application 
of  the  general  law  of  Evolution  to  the  production  of 
species.  It  is  shown  that  there  "  would  not  be  a  substitu- 
tion of  a  thousand  more  or  less  modified  species,  for  the 
thousand  original  species  ;  but,  in  place  of  the  thousand 
modified  species,  there  would  arise  several  thousand  species 
or  varieties  or  changed  forms  "  ;  and  that  "  each  original 
race  of  organisms  would  become  the  root  from  which 
diverged  several  races  differing  more  or  less  from  it  and 
from  each  other."  It  is  further  argued  that  the  new  rela- 
tions in  which  animals  would  be  placed  toward  one  another 
would  initiate  further  differences  of  habit  and  consequent 
modifications,  and  that  "  there  must  arise,  not  simply  a  tend- 
ency toward  the  differentiations  of  each  race  of  organisms 
into  several  races,  but  also  a  tendency  to  the  occasional 
production  of  a  somewhat  higher  organism."  The  case  of 
the  divergent  varieties  of  man,  some  of  them  higher  than 
others,  caused  in  this  same  manner,  is  given  in  illustration. 
Throughout  the  argument  there  is  a  tacit  implication  that, 
as  a  consequence  of  the  cause  of  Evolution,  the  production 
of  species  will  go  on,  not  in  ascending  linear  series  but  by 
perpetual  divergence  and  redivergence — branching  and 
again  branching.  The  general  conception,  however,  differs 
from  that  of  Mr.  Darwin  in  this ;  that  adaptation  and  re- 
adaptation  to  continually  changing  conditions  is  the  only 
process  recognized — there  is  no  recognition  of  "  sponta- 
neous variations,"  and  the  natural  selection  of  those  that 
are  favourable. 

During   the  summer  of    1857    Mr.  Spencer   wrote   the 


Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  521 

Origin  and  Function  of  Music,  published  in  Eraser's  Maga- 
zine for  October.  Like  nearly  all  of  his  other  writings, 
this  interesting  article  is  dominated  by  the  idea  of  Evolu- 
tion. The  general  law  of  nervo-motor  action  in  all  animals 
is  shown  to  furnish  an  explanation  of  the  tones  and  ca- 
dences of  emotional  speech  ;  and  it  is  pointed  out  that  from 
these  music  is  evolved  by  simple  exaltation  of  all  the  dis- 
tinctive traits,  and  carrying  them  out  into  ideal  combina- 
tion. A  further  step  was  taken,  the  same  year,  in  the  de- 
velopment of  the  doctrine  of  Evolution,  which  is  indicated 
in  the  article  entitled  Transcendental  Physiology.  It  was 
there  explained  that  the  multiplication  of  effects  was  not 
the  only  cause  of  the  universal  change  from  homogeneity 
to  heterogeneity,  but  that  there  was  an  antecedent  principle 
to  be  recognized,  viz.,  the  Instability  of  the  Homogeneous. 
The  physiological  illustrations  of  the  law  are  mainly  dwelt 
upon,  though  its  other  applications  are  indicated. 

In  October  of  the  same  year,  the  essay  on  Representa- 
tive Government :  What  is  it  good  for  ?  appeared  in  the 
Westminster  Review.  The  law  of  progress  is  here  applied 
to  the  interpretation  of  state  functions,  and  it  is  stated 
that  the  specialization  of  offices,  "  as  exhibited  in  the  Evo- 
lution of  living  creatures,  and  as  exhibited  in  the  Evolu- 
tion of  societies,"  holds  throughout ;  that  "  the  govern- 
mental part  of  the  body  politic  exemplifies  this  truth 
equally  with  its  other  parts."  In  January,  1858,  the  essay 
on  State  Tamperings  with  Money  and  Banks  appeared  in 
the  same  periodical.  The  general  doctrine  of  the  limita- 
tions of  state  functions  is  there  reaffirmed,  with  further 
illustration  of  the  mischiefs  that  arise  from  traversing  the 
normal  laws  of  life  ;  and  it  is  contended  that  "  the  ultimate 
result  of  shielding  men  from  the  effects  of  folly  is  to  fill 
the  world  with  fools  " — an  indirect  way  of  asserting  the 
beneficial  effects  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest. 

In  April,  1858,  Mr.  Spencer  published  an  essay  on 
23 


522  Edward  Livingston   Youmans, 

Moral  Education,  in  the  British  Quarterly  Review,  and 
throughout  the  argument  every  thing  is  again  regarded 
from  the  Evolution  point  of  view.  The  general  truth  in- 
sisted upon  is,  that  the  natural  rewards  and  restraints  of 
conduct  are  those  which  are  most  appropriate  and  effectual 
in  modifying  character.  The  principle  contended  for  is, 
that  the  moral  education  of  every  child  should  be  regarded 
as  an  adaptation  of  its  nature  to  the  circumstances  of  life ; 
and  that  to  become  adapted  to  these  circumstances  it  must 
be  allowed  to  come  in  contact  with  them  ;  must  be  allowed 
to  suffer  the  pains  and  obtain  the  pleasures  which  do  in  the 
order  of  Nature  follow  certain  kinds  of  action.  There  is 
here,  in  fact,  applied  to  actual  life  the  general  conception 
of  the  nature  of  life  previously  inculcated  in  the  Prin- 
ciples of  Psychology — a  correspondence  between  the  inner 
and  the  outer  actions  that  becomes  great  in  proportion 
as  the  converse  with  outer  actions  through  experience  be- 
comes extended. 

The  essay  on  the  Nebular  Hypothesis  was  published  in 
the  Westminster  Review  for  July,  1858.  The  opinion  was 
then  almost  universally  held  that  the  nebular  hypothesis 
had  been  exploded,  and  the  obvious  bearing  of  the  ques- 
tion upon  the  theory  of  Evolution  induced  Mr.  Spencer  to 
take  it  up.  The  conclusions  that  had  been  drawn  from 
observations  with  Lord  Rosse's  telescope,  that  the  nebular 
hypothesis  had  been  invalidated,  were  shown  to  be  erro- 
neous; and  the  position  taken  that  the  nebulae  could  not 
be  (as  they  were  then  supposed  to  be)  remote  sidereal 
systems,  has  been  since  verified.  Spectrum  analysis  has, 
in  fact,  proved  what  Mr.  Spencer  then  maintained,  that 
there  are  many  nebulae  composed  of  gaseous  matter.  To 
the  various  indications  of  the  nebular  origin  of  our  own 
solar  system  commonly  given,  others  were  added  which 
had  not  been  previously  recognized,  while  the  view  that 
Mr.  Spencer  took  of  the  constitution  of  the  solar 


Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  523 

atmosphere  has  since  been  also  verified  by  spectrum  analy- 
sis. 

In  October,  1858,  he  published  in  the  Medico-Chirur- 
gical  Review  a  criticism  on  Prof.  Owen's  Archetype  and 
Homologies  of  the  Vertebrate  Skeleton,  which  was  written 
in  furtherance  of  the  doctrine  of  Evolution,  and  to  show 
that  the  structural  peculiarities  which  are  not  accounted 
for  on  the  theory  of  an  archetypal  vertebra  are  accounted 
for  on  the  hypothesis  of  development.  In  January  of  the 
next  year  there  appeared  in  the  same  review  a  paper  on 
The  Laws  of  Organic  form,  already  referred  to  (the  germ 
of  which  dated  back  to  1851),  and  which  was  a  further  elu- 
cidation of  the  doctrine  of  Evolution,  by  showing  the  direct 
action  of  incident  forces  in  modifying  the  forms  of  organ- 
isms and  their  parts.  In  April,  1859,  appeared  in  the  Brit- 
ish Quarterly  Review  an  article  on  Physical  Education,  in 
which  the  bearing  of  biological  principles  upon  the  man- 
agement of  children  in  respect  to  their  bodily  development 
is  considered.  It  insists  upon  the  normal  course  of  unfold- 
ing, versus  those  hindrances  to  it  which  ordinary  school  regu- 
lations impose;  it  asserts  the  worth  of  the  bodily  appetites 
and  impulses  in  children,  which  are  commonly  so  much 
thwarted;  and  contends  that  during  this  earlier  portion  of 
life,  in  which  the  main  thing  to  be  done  is  to  grow  and  de- 
velop, our  educational  system  is  too  exacting — "  it  makes 
the  juvenile  life  far  more  like  the  adult  life  than  it  should 
be."  The  essay  What  Knowledge  is  of  most  Worth  was 
printed  in  the  Westminster  Review  for  July,  1859.  This 
argument  is  familiar  to  the  public,  as  it  has  been  many 
times  republished ;  but  what  is  here  most  worthy  of  note 
is  that,  in  criticising  the  current  study  of  history,  it  defines 
with  great  distinctness  the  plan  of  the  Descriptive  Sociology 
(the  first  divisions  of  which  are  now  just  published),  and 
which  will  give  the  comprehensive  and  systematic  data 
upon  which  the  Principles  of  Sociology  are  to  be  based. 


524  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

An  argument  on  Illogical  Geology  was  contributed  in 
July,  1859,  to  the  Universal  Review,  which,  although  nom- 
inally a  criticism  of  Hugh  Miller,  was  really  an  attack  upon 
the  prevalent  geological  doctrine  which  asserted  simultane- 
ity in  the  systems  of  strata  in  different  parts  of  the  earth. 
His  view,  which  was  at  that  time  heresy,  is  now  coming 
into  general  recognition.  In  the  Medico-Chirurgical  Review 
for  January,  1860,  Mr.  Spencer  published  a  criticism  on 
Prof.  Bain's  Work,  The  Emotions  and  the  Will,  designed  to 
show  that  the  emotions  cannot  be  properly  understood  and 
classified  without  studying  them  from  the  point  of  view  of 
Evolution,  and  tracing  them  up  through  their  increasing 
complications  from  lower  types  of  animals  to  higher.  The 
essay  on  the  Social  Organism  appeared  at  the  same  time 
in  the  Westminster  Review,  in  which  it  was  maintained  that 
society,  consisting  of  an  organized  aggregate,  follows  the 
same  course  of  Evolution  with  all  other  organized  aggre- 
gates— increasing  in  mass  and  showing  a  higher  integra- 
tion not  only  in  this  respect  but  also  in  its  growing  solidar- 
ity ;  becoming  more  and  more  heterogeneous  in  all  its 
structures,  and  more  and  more  definite  in  all  its  differentia- 
tions. The  Physiology  of  Laughter,  which  appeared  the 
same  year  in  Macmillan's  Magazine,  was  a  contribution  to 
nervous  dynamics  from  the  point  of  view  that  had  been 
taken  in  the  Principles  of  Psychology.  Even  in  Mr.  Spen- 
cer's discussion  of  Parliamentary  Reforms,  their  Dangers 
and  Safeguards  (Westminster  Review,  1860),  the  question 
is  dealt  with  on  scientific  grounds  ultimately  referring  to 
the  doctrine  of  Evolution.  It  was  its  general  purpose  to 
show  that  the  basis  of  political  power  can  be  safely  extended 
only  in  proportion  as  political  function  is  more  and  more 
restricted.  It  was  maintained  in  an  earlier  essay  that  rep- 
resentative government  is  the  best  possible  for  that  which 
is  the  essential  office  of  a  government — the  maintenance  of 
those  social  conditions  under  which  every  citizen  can  carry 


Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  525 

on  securely  and  without  hindrance  the  pursuits  of  life;  and 
that  it  is  the  worst  possible  for  other  purposes.  And  in 
continuation  of  this  argument  it  was  here  contended  that 
further  extension  of  popular  power  should  be  accompanied 
by  a  further  restriction  of  state  duty — a  further  specializa- 
tion of  state  function.  In  the  essay  on  Prison  Ethics,  con- 
tributed to  the  British  Quarterly  Review  in  July,  1860,  a 
special  question  is  very  ably  dealt  with  in  the  light  of  those 
biological,  psychological,  and  sociological  principles  which 
belong  to  the  Evolution  philosophy.  The  principle  of 
moral  Evolution  is  asserted,  and  the  concomitant  unfolding 
of  higher  and  better  modes  of  dealing  with  criminals. 

» 

We  have  now  passed  in  rapid  review  the  intellectual 
work  of  Mr.  Spencer  for  nearly  twenty  years,  and  have 
shown  that,  though  apparently  miscellaneous,  it  was,  in 
reality,  of  a  highly  methodical  character.  Though  treating 
of  many  subjects,  he  was  steadily  engaged  with  an  exten- 
sive problem  which  was  resolved,  step  by  step,  through  the 
successive  discovery  of  those  processes  and  principles  of 
Nature  which  constitute  the  general  law  of  Evolution. 
Beginning  in  1842  with  the  vague  conception  of  a  social 
progress,  he  subjected  this  idea  to  systematic  scientific 
analysis,  gave  it  gradually  a  more  definite  and  comprehen- 
sive form,  propounded  the  principles  of  heredity  and  adap- 
tation in  their  social  applications,  recognized  the  working 
of  the  principle  of  selection  in  the  case  of  human  beings, 
and  affiliated  the  conception  of  social  progress  upon  the 
more  general  principle  of  Evolution  governing  all  animate 
Nature.  Seizing  the  idea  of  increasing  heterogeneity  in 
organic  growth,  he  gradually  extended  it  in  various  direc- 
tions. When  the  great  conception  thus  pursued  had  grown 
into  a  clear,  coherent,  and  well-defined  doctrine,  he  took 
up  the  subject  of  psychology,  and,  combining  the  principle 
of  differentiation  with  that  of  integration,  he  placed  the 


526  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

interpretation  of  mental  phenomena  upon  the  basis  of  Evo- 
lution. We  have  seen  that  two  years  after  the  publica- 
tion of  the  Psychology,  or  in  1857,  Mr.  Spencer  had  ar- 
rived at  the  law  of  Evolution  as  a  universal  principle  of 
Nature,  and  worked  it  out  both  inductively  as  a  process  of 
increasing  heterogeneity,  and  deductively  from  the  princi- 
ples of  the  instability  of  the  homogeneous  and  the  multi- 
plication of  effects.  How  far  Mr.  Spencer  was  here  in  ad- 
vance of  all  other  workers  in  this  field,  will  appear  when 
we  consider  that  the  doctrine  of  Evolution,  as  it  now 
stands,  was  thus,  in  its  universality,  and  in  its  chief  out- 
lines, announced  by  him  two  years  before  the  appearance  of 
Mr.  Darwin's  Origin  of  Species.  , 

A  principle  of  natural  changes  more  universal  than  any 
other  known,  applicable  to  all  orders  of  phenomena,  and  so 
deep  as  to  involve  the  very  origin  of  things,  having  thus 
been  established,  the  final  step  remained  to  be  taken,  which 
was  to  give  it  the  same  ruling  place  in  the  world  of  thought 
and  of  knowledge  that  it  has  in  the  world  of  fact  and  of 
Nature.  A  principle  running  through  all  spheres  of  phe- 
nomena must  have  the  highest  value  for  determining  scien- 
tific relations  ;  and  a  genetic  law  of  natural  things  must 
necessarily  form  the  deepest  root  of  the  philosophy  of  nat- 
ural things.  It  was  in  1858,  as  Mr.  Spencer  informs  me, 
while  writing  the  article  on  the  Nebular  Hypothesis,  that 
the  doctrine  of  Evolution  presented  itself  as  the  basis  of  a 
general  system  under  which  all  orders  of  concrete  phenom- 
ena should  be  generalized.  Already  the  conception  had 
been  traced  out  in  its  applications  to  astronomy,  geology, 
biology,  psychology,  as  well  as  all  the  various  superor- 
ganic  products  of  social  activity  ;  and  it  began  to  appear 
both  possible  and  necessary  that  all  these  various  concrete 
sciences  should  be  dealt  with  in  detail  from  the  Evolution 
point  of  view.  By  such  treatment,  and  by  that  only,  did 
it  appear  practicable  to  bring  them  into  relation  so  as  to 


Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  527 

form  a  coherent   body    of   scientific   truth — a    System  of 
Philosophy. 

It  is  proper  to  state  in  this  place  that,  in  contemplating 
the  execution  of  so  comprehensive  a  work,  the  first  diffi- 
culty that  arose  was  a  pecuniary  one.  Mr.  Spencer  had 
frittered  away  the  greater  part  of  what  little  he  possessed 
in  writing  and  publishing  books  that  did  not  pay  their  ex- 
penses, and  a  period  of  eighteen  months  of  ill  health  and 
enforced  idleness  consequent  on  the  writing  of  one  of 
them  had  further  diminished  his  resources.  His  state  of 
health  was  still  such  that  he  could  work,  at  the  outside, 
but  three  hours  a  day,  and  very  frequently  not  that,  so 
that  what  little  he  could  do  in  the  shape  of  writing  for  peri- 
odicals, even  though  tolerably  paid  for  it,  did  not  suffice 
to  meet  the  expenses  of  a  very  economical  bachelor  life. 
How,  then,  could  he  reasonably  hope  to  prosecute  a  scheme 
elaborating  the  doctrine  of  Evolution  throughout  all  its  de- 
partments in  the  way  contemplated — a  scheme  that  would 
involve  an  enormous  amount  of  thought,  labour,  and  inquiry, 
and  which  seemed  very  unlikely  to  bring  any  pecuniary  re- 
turn, even  if  it  paid  its  expenses  ?  Unable  to  see  any  so- 
lution of  the  difficulty,  Mr.  Spencer  wrote,  in  July,  1858, 
to  Mr.  John  Stuart  Mill,  explaining  his  project,  and  asking 
whether  he  thought  that  in  the  administration  for  India,  in 
which  Mr.  Mill  held  office,  there  was  likely  to  be  any  post, 
rather  of  trust  than  of  much  work,  which  would  leave  him 
leisure  enough  for  the  execution  of  his  scheme.  Mr.  Mill 
replied  sympathetically,  but  nothing  turned  out  to  be 
available.  In  despair  of  any  other  possibility,  Mr.  Spencer 
afterward  extended  his  application  to  the  Government, 
being  re-enforced  by  the  influence  of  various  leading  scien- 
tific men,  who  expressed  themselves  strongly  respecting 
the  importance  of  giving  him  the  opportunity  he  wished.* 

*  See  Note  E. 


528  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

A  peculiar  difficulty,  however,  here  arose.  Mr.  Spencer  is 
a  very  impracticable  man — that  is,  he  undertakes  to  con- 
form his  conduct  to  right  principles,  and  his  decided  views 
as  to  the  proper  functions  of  government  put  an  interdict 
upon  the  far  greater  number  of  posts  that  might  otherwise 
be  fit.  Among  the  few  that  he  could  accept,  the  greater 
part  were  not  available  because  they  did  not  offer  the 
requisite  leisure.  One  position  became  vacant  which  he 
might  have  accepted,  that  of  Inspector  of  Prisons,  I  think ; 
but,  though  effort  in  his  behalf  was  made  by  Lord  Stanley 
(now  Lord  Derby,  who  was  familiar  with  Mr.  Spencer's 
works  and  entertained  the  matter  kindly),  the  claims  of 
party  were  too  strong,  and  no  arrangement  was  made. 

Other  plans  failing,  Mr.  Spencer  decided  to  adopt  that 
of  subscription,  and  to  issue  his  System  of  Philosophy  in  a 
serial  form.  A  prospectus  of  that  system  was  issued  in 
March,  1860,  which  outlined  the  contents  of  the  successive 
parts.  The  first  installment  of  the  work  was  issued  in 
October,  1860,  and  the  commencing  volume,  First  Princi- 
ples, was  published  in  June,  1862. 

In  this  work  the  general  doctrine  of  Evolution  is  pre- 
sented in  a  greatly  developed  form  ;  and  the  author's  for- 
mer views  are  not  only  combined  but  extended.  The  law 
of  Von  Baer,  which  formulates  organic  development  as  a 
transformation  of  the  homogeneous  into  the  heterogeneous, 
Mr.  Spencer  had  previously  shown  to  hold  of  all  aggre- 
gates whatever — of  the  universe  as  a  whole,  and  of  all  its 
component  parts.  But,  in  First  Principles,  it  was  shown 
that  this  universal  transformation  is  a  change  from  in- 
definite homogeneity  to  definite  heterogeneity ;  and  it  is 
pointed  out  that  only  when  the  increasing  multiformity  is 
joined  with  increasing  definiteness,  does  it  constitute  Evo- 
lution as  distinguished  from  other  changes  that  are  like  it 
in  respect  of  increasing  heterogeneity.  There  is,  however, 
a  much  more  important  development  of  the  principle. 


Herbert  Spencer  and  tJie  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  529 

This  change  from  the  indefinite  to  the  definite  is  shown  to 
be  the  accompaniment  of  a  more  essential  change  from  the 
incoherent  to  the  coherent.  Throughout  all  aggregates  of 
all  orders  it  is  proved  that  there  goes  on  a  process  of  inte- 
gration. This  process  is  shown  to  hold  alike  in  the  growth 
and  consolidation  of  each  aggregate  as  well  as  in  the  growth 
and  consolidation  of  its  differentiated  parts.  The  law  of 
the  instability  of  the  homogeneous  is  also  more  elaborately 
traced  out.  Under  the  head  of  \.\\t  principle  of  segregation 
it  is,  moreover,  shown  that  the  universal  process  by  which, 
in  aggregates  of  mixed  units,  the  units  of  like  kinds  tend 
to  gather  together,  and  the  units  of  unlike  kinds  to  sepa- 
rate, everywhere  co-operates  in  aiding  Evolution.  Yet  a 
further  universal  law  is  recognized  and  developed — the 
law  of  equilibration.  The  question  is  asked,  "  Can  these 
changes  which  constitute  Evolution  continue  without 
limit?"  and  the  answer  given  is  that  they  cannot;  but 
that  they  universally  tend  in  each  aggregate  toward  a  final 
state  of  quiescence,  in  which  all  the  forces  at  work  have 
reached  a  state  of  balance.  Like  the  other  universal  pro- 
cess, that  of  equilibration  is  traced  out  in  all  divisions  of 
phenomena.  But  the  most  important  development  given 
to  the  doctrine  of  Evolution  in  this  volume  was  its  affilia- 
tion upon  the  ultimate  principle  underlying  all  science — 
the  persistence  of  force.  It  was  shown  that  from  this  ulti- 
mate law  there  result  certain  universal  derivative  laws, 
which  are  dealt  with  in  chapters  on  The  Correlation  and 
Equivalence  of  Forces,  The  Direction  of  Motion,  and  The 
Rhythm  of  Motion,  and  it  was  demonstrated  that  these 
derivative  laws  hold  throughout  all  changes,  from  the  as- 
tronomical to  the  psychical  and  social.  It  is  then  shown 
that  the  Instability  of  the  Homogeneous,  The  Multiplica- 
tion of  Effects,  Segregation  and  Equilibration,  are  also  de- 
ducible  from  this  ultimate  principle  of  the  persistence  of 
force.  So  that  Evolution,  having  been  first  established 


530  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

inductively  as  universal,  is  further  shown  to  be  universal 
by  establishing  it  deductively  as  a  result  of  the  deepest  of 
all  knowable  truths. 

The  first  edition  of  First  Principles  was  published,  but 
another  important  step  in  elucidating  the  philosophy  of 
Evolution  required  to  be  taken.  In  dealing  with  the  classi- 
fication of  the  sciences,  from  the  point  of  view  to  which 
his  philosophy  has  brought  him,  Mr.  Spencer  had  occasion 
to  seek  for  that  aspect  of  all  physical  phenomena  which 
forms  the  most  general  division  of  physical  science.  He 
found  that  what  he  sought  must  be  some  general  fact  re- 
specting the  redistribution  of  matter  and  motion.  The 
law  was  soon  arrived  at,  that  integration  of  matter  results 
from  decrease  of  the  contained  motion,  while  disintegra- 
tion of  matter  results  from  increase  of  the  contained 
motion.  It  is  at  once  manifest  that  the  law  thus  reached 
was  deeper  than  the  principle  of  Evolution,  for  it  is  con- 
formed to  by  mineral  bodies,  which  do  not  exhibit  the 
phenomena  of  Evolution  as  Mr.  Spencer  had  interpreted 
them.  In  short,  it  became  clear  that  a  law  had  been 
reached,  holding  of  all  material  things  whatever,  whether 
they  are  those  which  do  or  those  which  do  not  increase  in 
heterogeneity.  It  was  now  first  possible  to  judge  of  the 
relative  value  and  importance  of  the  several  factors  of  the 
evolutionary  process.  In  Von  Baer's  conception  of  organic 
development,  it  is  made  to  consist  essentially  and  solely 
in  the  change  of  increasing  heterogeneity  in  the  evolving 
body.  But  Mr.  Spencer  had  shown  that  evolution  is  a 
double  process — a  tendency  to  unity  as  well  as  to  diversity, 
an  integration  as  well  as  a  differentiation.  It  was  now 
found  that  the  process  of  integration,  as  it  applies  to  all 
things,  whether  evolving  or  not,  is  a  deeper  principle,  and 
is,  in  fact,  the  primary  process  in  evolution,  while  the  in- 
crease of  heterogeneity  is  the  secondary  process.  At  the 
same  time,  this  new  view  of  the  matter  made  it  obvious 


Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  531 

that  Dissolution  is  everywhere  the  correlative  of  Evolu- 
tion, and  that,  before  the  generalization  is  complete,  Dis- 
solution must  be  recognized  as  universally  tending  to  undo 
what  Evolution  does. 

In  a  new  edition  of  First  Principles  this  idea  was  em- 
bodied, and  the  work  recast  in  conformity  with  it.  The 
doctrine  of  Evolution  thus  attained  a  higher  development. 
The  fundamental  antagonism  between  Evolution  and  Dis- 
solution comes  into  the  foreground  as  the  cardinal  concep- 
tion. It  is  shown  that  every  aggregate,  simple  or  com- 
pound, is,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  its  existence, 
subject  to  these  opposing  processes  of  change ;  that,  ac- 
cording as  its  quantity  of  contained  motion  is  becoming 
greater  or  less,  it  is  tending  to  integrate  or  disintegrate, 
evolve  or  dissolve;  that  from  moment  to  moment  through- 
out its  whole  existence  it  is  simultaneously  exposed  to  both 
these  processes,  and  that  the  average  transformation  it  is 
undergoing  expresses  the  predominance  of  the  one  process 
over  the  other.  This  being  the  universal  law  to  which  all 
material  things  at  all  times  are  subject,  there  come  to  be 
recognized  certain  derivative  laws  that  are  not  universal 
although  highly  general.  Evolution  is  distinguished  into 
simple  and  compound  :  simple  Evolution  being  that  in 
which  the  character  of  the  matter  and  the  rate  of  its  inte- 
gration are  such  that  this  primary  process  of  change  from  a 
diffused  state  to  a  concentrated  state  is  uncomplicated  by 
secondary  changes — compound  Evolution  being  that  in 
which,  along  with  the  general  integrations,  there  go  on 
more  or  less  marked  differentiations  and  local  integrations. 
Thus  the  changes  which  were  originally  conceived  to  con- 
stitute Evolution  itself  came  to  be  recognized  as,  in  order 
of  time  and  importance,  subordinate;  integration  may  go 
on  without  differentiation,  as  in  crystals ;  but  differentia- 
tion is  made  possible  only  by  antecedent  integration. 

The  doctrine  of  Evolution,  as  a  theory  of  the  genesis 


532  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

and  dissolution  of  things  in  the  onward  course  of  Nature, 
was  elaborately  presented  in  First.  Principles,  and  might 
have  been  there  left  to  take  its  place  and  its  chance 
among  philosophical  theories.  But  it  had  not  been  ex- 
ploited by  Mr.  Spencer  in  the  way  of  mental  gymnastics,  as 
a  piece  of  novel  and  ingenious  speculation.  He  believed 
it  to  embody  a  living  and  applicable  principle  of  the  great- 
est moment.  If  the  law  of  Evolution  be  true,  it  is  a  truth 
of  transcendent  import,  no  less  in  the  sphere  of  practical 
life  than  in  the  world  of  thought,  and  it  was  important  that 
it  should  be  carried  out  in  the  various  fields  of  its  applica- 
tion. Moreover,  Mr.  Spencer  had  been  drawn  to  the  inves- 
tigation by  his  interest  in  the  study  of  human  affairs,  and 
his  task  was  but  fairly  begun  with  the  establishment  of  the 
principle  by  which  they  are  to  be  interpreted.  In  the  strict 
logical  order  the  next  step  would  have  been  to  trace  the 
operation  of  the  law  in  the  inorganic  or  pre-organic  world,  but 
the  vastness  of  the  subject  forbade  this,  and  Mr.  Spencer 
found  it  necessary  to  enter  at  once  upon  the  organic  divi- 
sion of  his  scheme.  In  the  Principles  of  Biology  the  sub- 
ject of  life  was  accordingly  comprehensively  dealt  with 
from  the  Evolution  point  of  view.  He  then  passed  to  the 
phenomena  of  mind,  and  recast  and  amplified  the  Principles 
of  Psychology  in  accordance  with  his  more  matured  opin- 
ions, placing  it  upon  the  ampler  basis  afforded  by  First 
Principles  and  the  Principles  of  Biology.  These  three 
works,  forming  five  volumes  of  the  System  of  Philosophy, 
are  now  published,  and  they  carry  him  half  through  the 
undertaking — the  Principles  of  Sociology,  in  three  volumes, 
and  the  Principles  of  Morality,  in  two  volumes,  remaining 
yet  to  be  written.  Mr.  Spencer  allowed  twenty  years  for 
the  whole  enterprise;  ill  health  and  unforeseen  interrup- 
tions have  occasioned  considerable  delay,  and  it  was  half 
accomplished  in  twelve  years. 

A  further  illustration  of  the  comprehensive  and  thor- 


Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  533 

oughly  systematic  character  of  Mr.  Spencer's  work  is 
afforded  by  his  preparation  for  the  treatment  of  the  sub- 
ject of  Sociology.  In  dealing  with  Biology  and  Psychology, 
the  data  for  reasoning  were  readily  accessible ;  but  in  en- 
tering upon  the  scientific  study  of  so  vast  and  varied  a  sub- 
ject as  human  society  a  most  formidable  difficulty  appeared 
at  the  threshold  of  the  inquiry,  in  the  absence  of  facts  to 
form  the  broad  basis  of  sociological  reasoning.  So  defi- 
cient and  scattered  and  contradictory  were  such  data  that 
the  possibility  of  any  valid  social  science  has  been  gener- 
ally regarded  with  distrust,  or  unhesitatingly  denied.  But 
the  phenomena  of  society  are  not  chaotic;  they  coexist 
and  succeed  each  other  in  an  orderly  way.  The  natural 
laws  of  the  social  state  are  undoubtedly  determinable,  but 
such  determination  is  primarily  a  question  of  the  collection 
of  materials  suitable  for  wide  and  safe  inductions.  Mr. 
Spencer  foresaw  this  several  years  ago,  and  began  the  col- 
lection and  methodical  arrangement  of  all  those  numerous 
classes  of  facts  pertaining  to  the  various  forms  and  states 
of  society  which  are  needed  to  work  out  the  Principles  of 
Sociology.  This  alone  was  an  immense  undertaking.  The 
races  of  mankind  were  divided  into  three  groups,  illustrat- 
ing existing  civilizations,  extinct  or  decayed  civilizations, 
arid  the  savage  state.  Three  corresponding  series  of  works 
were  projected,  a  tabular  method  for  the  classification  and 
arrangement  of  facts  was  devised,  and  three  gentlemen 
were  employed  to  carry  out  the  work  of  collection  and  di- 
gestion of  materials  under  Mr.  Spencer's  supervision.  The 
first  installments  of  each  of  these  divisions  are  now  com- 
pleted, and  published.  This  important  work,  which  is  sub- 
sidiary to  his  main  enterprise,  is  the  first  of  the  kind  ever 
attempted,  and  when  finished  and  issued  will  form  a  com- 
plete Cyclopaedia  of  the  multifarious  data  necessary  for  the 
scientific  investigation  of  social  questions.  Its  continued 
publication  will  depend  upon  public  support;  but  the  col- 


534  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

lection  has  been  made  by  Mr.  Spencer  for  his  own  use,  and 
it  will  form  the  groundwork  of  the  Principles  of  Sociology 
upon  which  he  has  now  entered,  and  the  first  part  of  which 
is  issued. 

Let  us  now  recapitulate  his  labours  in  the  order  of  their 
accomplishment,  so  as  to  bring  them  into  one  view  : 

Letters  on  the  Proper  Sphere  of  Government, .....     1842 
(Occupied  several  years  as  a  Railroad  Engineer.) 

Planned  Social  Statics, 1846 

Social  Statics  published,    .  1850 

Theory  of  Population,  \ 

The  Development  Hypothesis,  I 1852 

Philosophy  of  Style,  ) 

Over-Legislation,  ^ 

The  Universal  Postulate,  ) 

Manners  and  Fashion, 

The  Genesis  of  Science, 

The  Art  of  Education, 

Evolution  first  conceived  as  Universal, 

Principles  of  Psychology, 1855 

(Breakdown  of  eighteen  months.) 

Progress,  its  Law  and  Cause, 
Origin  and  Function  of  Music, 
Transcendental  Physiology, 
Representative  Government, 

State  Tamperings  with  Money  and  Banks, 

Moral  Education,- 

The  Nebular  Hypothesis,  }-     .     1858 

Archetype  and  Homologies  of  the  Vertebrate  Skeleton, 

Evolution  first  conceived  as  the  basis  of  a  system  of  Philosophy, 

The  Laws  of  Organic  Form,  "^ 

Physical  Education, 

What  Knowledge  is  of  most  Worth,  |*         .         .         .     1859 

Illogical  Geology, 

Prospectus  of  the  System  of  Philosophy  drawn  up, 


i860 


Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  535 

The  Emotions  and  the  Will, 

The  Social  Organism, 

The  Physiology  of  Laughter, 

Parliamentary  Reform, 

Prison  Ethics, 

Prospectus  of  the  Philosophical  System  published, 

First  Principles, 1862 

Classification  of  the  Sciences, 1864 

Principles  of  Biology, 1867 

Principles  of  Psychology, 1872 

The  Study  of  Sociology,  )  o 

Descriptive  Sociology,      j 

Principles  of  Sociology,  Part  I., 1874 

The  facts  now  presented,  I  submit,  entirely  sustain  the 
view  with  which  we  set  out,  in  regard  to  the  character  of 
Mr.  Spencer's  work,  and  his  position  in  the  world  of 
thought.  It  has  been  shown  that  he  took  up  the  idea  of 
Progress  while  it  was  only  a  vague  speculation,  and  had 
not  yet  become  a  subject  of  serious  scientific  study.  We 
have  seen  that  he  verified  its  reality  by  gradually  tracing 
its  operation  step  by  step,  in  widely  different  fields  of  phe- 
nomena ;  that  he  analyzed  its  conditions  and  causes,  and 
at  length  formulated  it  as  a  universal  principle,  to  which 
the  course  of  all  things  conforms.  That  view  of  the  uni- 
verse which  the  science  of  the  world  now  accepts,  it  has 
been  shown  that  Mr.  Spencer  adopted  a  generation  ago, 
and  entered  upon  its  elucidation  as  a  systematic  life-work. 
We  have  traced  the  course  of  its  unfolding,  and  I  appeal 
to  the  record  of  labours  here  delineated  as  furnishing  an  ex- 
ample of  original,  continuous,  and  concentrated  thinking, 
which  it  will  be  difficult  to  parallel  in  the  history  of  intel- 
lectual achievement.  In  newness  of  conception,  unity  of 
purpose,  subtilty  of  analyses,  comprehensive  grasp,  thor- 
oughness of  method,  and  sustained  force  of  execution,  this 


536  Edivard  Livingston    Youmans. 

series  of  labours,  I  believe,  may  challenge  comparison  with 
the  highest  mental  work  of  any  age. 

As  to  the  character  of  the  system  of  thought  which 
Mr.  Spencer  has  elaborated,  we  have  shown  that  it  is  such 
as  to  form  an  important  epoch  in  the  advance  of  knowl- 
edge. He  took  up  an  idea  not  yet  investigated  nor  enter- 
tained by  his  predecessors  or  contemporaries,  and  has  made 
it  the  corner  stone  of  a  philosophy.  If  by  philosophy  we 
understand  the  deepest  explanation  of  things  that  is  pos- 
sible to  the  human  mind,  the  principle  of  genesis  or  Evolu- 
tion certainly  answers  pre-eminently  to  this  character ;  for 
what  explanation  can  go  deeper  than  that  which  accounts 
for  the  origin,  continuance,  and  disappearance  of  the 
changing  objects  around  us  ?  It  is  the  newest  solution 
of  the  oldest  problem  ;  a  solution  based  alike  upon  the 
most  extended  knowledge,  and  upon  a  reverent  recognition 
that  all  human  investigation,  however  extensive,  must 
have  its  inexorable  bounds.  The  philosophy  of  Evolution 
is  truly  a  philosophy  of  creation,  carried  as  far  as  the 
human  mind  can  penetrate.  If  man  is  finite,  the  infinite  is 
beyond  him;  if  finite,  he  is  limited,  and  his  knowledge,  and 
all  the  philosophy  that  rests  upon  knowledge,  must  be  also 
limited.  Philosophy  is  a  system  of  truth  pertaining  to  the 
order  of  Nature,  and  coextensive  with  it ;  and,  as  the  vari- 
ous sciences  are  but  the  knowledge  of  the  different  parts  of 
Nature,  Mr.  Spencer  bases  philosophy  upon  science,  and 
makes  it  what  may  be  called  a  science  of  the  sciences. 
Resting,  moreover,  upon  a  universal  law,  which  governs 
the  course  and  changes  of  all  phenomena,  this  philosophy 
becomes  powerful  to  unify  and  harmonize  the  hitherto 
separate  and  fragmentary  systems  of  truth  ;  and,  as  this 
is  the  predominant  trait  of  Mr.  Spencer's  system  of 
thought,  he  very  properly  denominates  it  the  Synthetic 
Philosophy. 

In  estimating  the  character  of  Mr.  Spencer's  Philosoph- 


Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  537 

ical  System  it  is  needful  to  remember  that  it  differs  in  vari- 
ous fundamental  respects  from  any  that  has  before  been 
offered  to  the  world.  It  is  more  logically  complete  than 
any  other  system,  because  its  truths  are  first  derived  from 
facts  and  phenomena  by  the  method  of  induction,  and  then 
systematically  verified  by  deduction  from  principles  already 
established.  It  is  more  practical  than  any  other,  because 
it  bears  immediately  upon  common  experience,  takes  hold 
of  the  living  questions  of  the  time,  throws  light  upon  the 
course  of  human  affairs,  and  gives  knowledge  that  may 
serve  both  for  public  and  individual  guidance.  Viewed  as 
an  intellectual  achievement,  his  undertaking  is  neither  to 
be  measured  by  the  time  consumed  in  its  execution  nor  by 
the  amount  of  labour  involved,  but  by  the  nature  and  quality 
of  the  work  itself.  It  was  original  throughout,  was  based 
upon  the  most  comprehensive  results  of  modern  science, 
and  was  elaborated  under  the  inexorable  conditions  of 
logical  method.  The  development  of  a  system  of  philoso- 
phy now  is  a  very  different  thing  from  what  it  was  in  the 
earlier  times.  Plato  spun  a  system  of  thought  before  specu- 
lation was  yet  curbed  by  the  knowledge  of  Nature  ;  Spen- 
cer has  constructed  a  philosophy  out  of  the  inflexible  mate- 
rials furnished  in  all  the  fields  of  modern  investigation.  His 
system  is  not  a  digest,  but  an  organon ;  not  merely  an 
analytic  dissection,  but  a  grand  synthetic  construction  ; 
not  a  science,  but  a  co-ordination  of  the  sciences;  not  a 
metaphysical  elaboration,  but  a  positive  body  of  doctrine 
conforming  to  verifiable  facts,  and  based  upon  the  most 
comprehensive  principle  of  Nature  yet  arrived  at  by  fhe 
human  mind. 

But  no  recognition  of  the  greatness  of  Mr.  Spencer's  in- 
tellectual work  will  do  him  justice.  There  is  a  moral  sub- 
limity in  his  self-sacrificing  career  which  is  not  to  be  neg- 
lected in  making  up  the  estimate  of  his  character.  As 
remarked  by  M.  Laugel :  "  If  Mr.  Spencer,  with  his  talents, 


538  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

his  fertility  of  genius,  and  the  almost  encyclopaedic  variety 
of  knowledge,  of  which  his  writings  furnish  the  proof,  had 
chosen  to  follow  the  beaten  path,  nothing  would  have  been 
more  easy  than  for  him  to  secure  all  those  honours  of  which 
English  Society  is  so  prodigal  to  those  who  serve  her  as  she 
wishes  to  be  served.  He  preferred,  however,  with  a  noble 
and  touching  self-denial,  to  put  up  with  poverty,  and,  what 
is  still  more  difficult,  with  obscurity."  In  advance  of  his 
generation  and  working  against  the  powerful  current  of  its 
prejudices,  with  broken  health,  without  pecuniary  resources, 
and  depending  upon  promises  of  support  that  were  but 
very  partially  redeemed,  with  an  intrepidity  that  was  not 
wanting  in  heroism  he  entered  upon  the  most  formidable 
intellectual  project  that  was  ever  undertaken  by  any  single 
mind.  One  would  think  that  it  should  have  commanded 
the  sympathy  of  the  generous  and  the  cordial  approval  if 
not  the  kindly  co-operation  of  all  who  appreciate  courage- 
ous and  noble  endeavour;  but,  unhappily,  a  discriminating 
appreciation  of  genuine  work  is  not  overabundant  in  these 
times;  and,  in  the  accomplishment  of  a  task  which  I  be- 
lieve future  generations  will  regard  as  the  most  memorable 
achievement  of  this  fruitful  age,  Mr.  Spencer  has  had  but 
stinted  encouragement  and  a  very  shabby  support.  In  an- 
swer to  the  question,  why  his  contemporaries  have  been  so 
unappreciative,  much  might  be  said,  but  I  will  here  confine 
myself  to  one  or  two  suggestions. 

In  the  first  place,  Mr.  Spencer's  work  has  been  done 
under  circumstances  peculiarly  unfavourable  to  the  recog- 
nition of  his  rights  as  an  original  and  independent  thinker. 
Of  the  twenty-five  articles  prepared  in  the  most  active 
period  of  his  life,  and  published  between  1852  and  1860, 
which,  as  I  have  shown,  are  important  contributions  toward 
the  development  of  the  doctrine  of  Evolution  in  its  various 
phases,  most,  if  not  all,  appeared  anonymously.  They  were 
printed  in  the  different  leading  reviews,  and  many  of  them 


Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  539 

attracted  marked  attention  at  the  time  ;  but  their  author 
was  unknown,  and,  of  course,  lost  the  advantage  of  having 
his  ideas  accredited  to  him.  Up  to  the  time  when  he  had 
matured  his  system  of  thought,  and  was  ready  to  enter 
upon  its  formal  publication,  he  had  been  giving  it  out  in 
fragments,  as  its  several  aspects  had  taken  shape  in  his 
own  mind.  His  articles,  many  of  which  were  republished 
in  this  country,  thus  went  far  toward  familiarizing  the  pub- 
lic mind  with  the  general  conception  of  Evolution,  so  that 
he  was  actually  preparing  his  readers  to  discredit  his  subse- 
quent claims  to  his  own  views,  which,  being  reproduced  and 
further  diffused  by  others,  were  regarded  as  belonging  to  the 
common  stock  of  current  ideas.  So  far  did  this  go  that 
he  was  ultimately  exposed  to  the  imputation  of  plagiarism 
for  the  restatement  of  opinions  that  he  had  first  put  forth, 
but  which  other  men  had  appropriated,  and  sent  out  as 
their  own.  Nor  was  the  case  much  helped  when  he  be- 
gan to  publish  his  system  of  philosophy  to  subscribers,  for 
so  limited  was  its  distribution  that  it  might  almost  have 
been  said  that  it  was  "  printed  for  private  circulation." 
Moreover,  being  the  owner  of  his  own  works,  the  interests 
of  publishers  were  not  enlisted  in  their  diffusion  ;  while  the 
assaults  of  the  press  were  so  malignant,  and  their  repre- 
sentations so  false,  that  for  years  he  was  constrained  to 
withhold  his  series  from  the  periodicals.  All  this  was  fa- 
vourable to  misconception,  and  left  Mr.  Spencer  much  at 
the  mercy  of  dishonest  authorship  and  unscrupulous  criti- 
cism. 

Again,  it  must  be  recognized  that  there  were  difficulties 
in  appreciating  his  work  which  arose  from  its  nature  and 
extent.  While  a  scientific  discovery,  or  a  single  definite 
doctrine,  is  readily  apprehended  because  the  impression  it 
makes  is  narrow  and  sharp,  an  extensive  system  of  prin- 
ciples, which  it  requires  power  to  grasp  and  time  to  master, 
can  only  be  imperfectly  received  by  the  general  mind.  The 


54O  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

very  greatness  of  Mr.  Spencer's  work  was  thus  an  impedi- 
ment to  its  recognition,  and  this,  too,  it  must  be  acknowl- 
edged, on  the  part  even  of  men  of  science.  In  the  scien- 
tific world  the  accumulation  of  facts  has  outstripped  the 
work  of  valid  generalization.  For,  while  men  of  moderate 
ability  can  observe,  experiment,  and  multiply  details  in 
special  departments,  it  requires  men  of  breadth  to  arrange 
them  into  groups,  to  educe  principles  and  arrive  at  com- 
prehensive laws.  The  great  mass  of  scientific  specialists, 
confined  to  their  'departments,  and  little  trained  to  the 
work  of  generalization,  are  apt  to  regard  lightly  the  logical 
processes  of  science,  and  to  decry  mere  theorizing  and 
speculation.  They  forget  that  facts  of  themselves  are  not 
science,  and  only  become  so  by  being  placed  in  true  rela- 
tions, and  that  the  function  of  the  thinker  is  therefore  su- 
preme ;  while  the  work  of  organizing  facts  and  establishing 
general  truths  is,  after  all,  just  as  much  a  specialty  as  that 
of  observation  or  experiment  in  any  branches  of  inquiry. 
The  prevalence  of  these  narrow  views  has  been  unfavour- 
able to  the  recognition  of  Mr.  Spencer's  work  by  a  large 
class  of  the  cultivators  of  science  ;  and  the  more  so,  as  he 
has  been  mainly  occupied  in  the  highest  spheres  of  general- 
ization. For  this  reason  it  is  only  by  the  comparatively 
small  number  of  scientific  men  who  possess  marked  philo- 
sophic power  that  his  labours  have  been  justly  appreciated. 
But,  while  considerations  of  this  kind  are  not  to  be 
overlooked  in  assigning  the  responsibilities  of  criticism, 
neither  are  they  to  be  construed  into  excuses  for  preju- 
diced opinions,  or  crude  and  hasty  judgments.  It  is  the 
business  of  critics  to  inform  themselves  on  important  mat- 
ters of  which  they  speak,  or  to  hold  their  peace.  And, 
where  there  is  peculiar  difficulty  or  liability  to  error,  they 
are  all  the  more  bound  to  caution,  and  to  refrain  from 
injurious  interpretations.  Reverting  now  to  the  criti- 
cisms cited  at  the  outset  of  this  discussion  as  typical  of  a 


Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  541 

class,  we    are   prepared    to    rate    them   at    what    they   are 
worth. 

From  what  has  been  stated,  I  think  it  will  be  sufficiently 
evident  that  Mr.  Spencer  is  no  follower  of  Comte,  Dar- 
win, or  any  other  man,  and  that  he  has  pursued  his  own 
independent  course  in  his  own  way.  As  to  M.  Taine's  state- 
ment that  "  Mr.  Spencer  has  the  merit  of  extending  to  the 
phenomena  of  Nature  and  of  mind  "  Mr.  Darwin's  principle 
of  Natural  Selection,  the  facts  given  show  how  mistaken 
was  his  view  of  the  case.  Strange  to  say,  M.  Taine,  who 
claims  to  be  a  psychologist,  puts  forth  this  idea  in  a  review 
of  Mr.  Spencer's  Principles  of  Psychology,  a  work  which 
treated  the  subject  of  mind  throughout,  and  for  the  first 
time  from  the  point  of  view  of  Evolution,  and  this  years 
before  Mr.  Darwin  had  published  a  word  upon  the  subject. 

As  this  error  of  M.  Taine  is  frequently  repeated,*  and 
indicates  a  total  misapprehension  of  the  facts,  it  is  de- 
sirable to  add  a  word  or  two  regarding  Mr.  Darwin's  re- 
lation to  the  question.  While  this  illustrious  naturalist 
has  contributed  immensely  toward  the  extension  and  es- 
tablishment of  a  theory  of  organic  development,  he  has 
made  no  attempt  to  elucidate  the  general  law  of  Evolu- 
tion. His  works  do  not  treat  of  this  broad  problem  ;  and 
nothing  has  tended  more  to  the  popular  confusion  of  the 
subject  than  the  notion  that  "  Darwinism  "  and  Evolution 
are  the  same  thing.  Mr.  Darwin's  fame  rests  chiefly  upon 
the  skill  and  perseverance  with  which  he  has  worked  out  a 
single  principle  in  its  bearing  upon  the  progressive  diver- 
sity of  organic  life.  The  competitions  of  Nature  leading  to 
a  struggle  for  existence,  and  that  consequent  winnowing 

*  The  Saturday  Review,  for  example,  in  commenting  upon  Prof.  Tyn- 
dall's  late  address,  remarks :  "  What  Darwin  has  done  for  physiology, 
Spencer  would  do  for  psychology  by  applying  to  the  nervous  system  par- 
ticularly the  principles  which  his  teacher  (!)  has  already  enunciated  for 
the  physical  system  generally." 


542  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

which  Mr.  Darwin  calls  "  Natural  Selection,  and  Mr.  Spen- 
cer calls  "  Survival  of  the  Fittest,"  were  recognized  before 
Mr.  Darwin's  time :  what  he  did,  as  I  have  already  ex- 
plained, was  to  show  how  this  principle  may  aid  in  giving 
rise  to  new  species  from  pre-existing  species.  The  princi- 
ple is  a  part  of  the  great  theory  of  Evolution,  and  has  a 
philosophic  importance  exactly  in  proportion  to  the  valid- 
ity of  that  larger  system  of  doctrine  to  which  it  is  tribu- 
tary as  an  element.  Not  only  has  Mr.  Darwin  never 
taken  up  the  general  question  of  Evolution,  but  it  was  not 
his  aim  to  explain  even  the  evolution  of  species  in  terms  of 
ultimate  principles — that  is,  in  terms  of  the  redistribution 
of  matter  and  motion.  Yet  it  is  in  this  way  that  all  proxi- 
mate principles,  including  Natural  Selection,  have  to  be 
expressed  before  the  final  interpretation  is  reached.  This 
mode  of  dealing  with  the  subject — the  analysis  of  it  into 
those  primary  principles  from  which  all  the  proximate 
principles  are  derived,  and  the  reduction  of  the  various 
phases  of  transformation  to  a  single  law,  which  is  the  only 
thoroughly  scientific  method  of  its  treatment,  belongs  to 
Mr.  Spencer  alone.  As  to  his  following  Mr.  Darwin,  we 
have  already  seen  that,  long  before  the  Origin  of  Species 
was  published,  Mr.  Spencer  had  reached  the  proof  of  Evo- 
lution as  a  universal  law ;  had  traced  its  dependence  upon 
the  principle  of  the  persistence  of  force  ;  had  resolved  it 
into  its  ultimate  dynamical  factors  ;  had  worked  out  many 
of  its  important  applications  ;  had  made  it  the  basis  of  a 
system  of  Philosophy ;  and  had  shown  that  it  furnishes  a 
new  starting-point  for  the  scientific  interpretation  of  hu- 
man affairs.  And  for  this  vast  constructive  work  Mr. 
Spencer  was  indebted  solely  to  his  own  genius.  Referring 
to  the  subject  of  Evolution,  in  a  lecture  before  the  Royal 
Institution,  Prof.  Huxley  said  :  "  The  only  complete  and 
systematic  statement  of  the  doctrine  with  which  I  am  ac- 
quainted is  that  contained  in  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer's  System 


Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  543 

of  Philosophy ;  "  of  this  doctrine,  I  have  given  the  proof 
that  Mr.  Spencer  is  the  chief  originator,  as  well  as  the 
only  expositor.  The  same  ethical  canons  of  research,  I 
therefore  maintain,  which  gave  to  Copernicus  the  glory  of 
the  heliocentric  astronomy  ;  to  Newton  that  of  the  law  of 
gravitation  ;  to  Harvey  that  of  the  circulation  of  the 
blood ;  to  Priestley  that  of  the  discovery  of  oxygen  ;  to 
Dr.  Young  that  of  the  undulatory  theory  of  light ;  and  to 
Darwin  that  of  natural  selection — will  also  give  to  Herbert 
Spencer  the  honour  of  having  first  elucidated  and  estab- 
lished the  law  of  Universal  Evolution. 

Colonel  Higginson  imputes  to  Mr.  Spencer,  as  a  weak- 
ness, the  propensity  to  write  on  a  great  number  of  sub- 
jects ;  I  have  shown,  on  the  contrary,  that  he  has  been 
compelled  to  write  upon  many  subjects  from  logical  neces- 
sity, and  has  done  so  in  unswerving  devotion  to  the  de- 
velopment of  one  class  of  ideas.  It  will  be  seen  that  he  is 
now  upon  the  same  identical  track  of  thought  which  he 
opened  in  his  youth,  to  which  he  has  consecrated  his  life, 
and  which  he  has  made  his  own.  Thirty-two  years  ago 
he  began  to  study  the  social  condition  and  relations  of 
men  from  the  scientific  point  of  view,  and  to  treat  of  hu- 
man society  as  a  sphere  of  natural  law.  After  eight  years 
he  published  a  treatise  upon  the  question,  which,  although 
in  advance  of  the  times,  only  served  to  convince  its  author 
that  the  investigation  was  barely  begun,  and  that,  before 
any  adequate  social  science  was  possible,  the  whole  subject 
required  to  be  more  deeply  grounded  in  the  knowledge  of 
Nature.  Upon  that  deeper  study  of  Nature  he  then  en- 
tered, and,  after  twenty-four  years  of  steady  and  system- 
atic preparation,  the  problems  of  Social  Statics  are  re- 
sumed in  the  Principles  of  Sociology.  If  so  prolonged 
and  inflexible  a  course  of  original  inquiry,  yielding  results 
which  are  felt  in  the  highest  spheres  of  thought,  are  sug- 
gestive of  "a  weakness,"  we  should  be  glad  to  be  furnished 


544  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

with  the  examples  which  embody  Colonel  Higginson's  con- 
ception of  strength  in  mental  character.  As  to  the  decla- 
ration that  it  seems  absurd  to  attribute  to  Mr.  Spencer  any 
vast  enlargement  or  further  generalization  of  the  modern 
doctrine  of  Evolution,  we  leave  its  author  to  reconcile  his 
opinion  with  the  fact  that  the  System  of  Psychology, 
which  first  extended  the  principle  of  Evolution  to  the 
sphere  of  mind,  had  been  nine  years  before  the  world,  the 
conception  of  universal  Evolution  had  been  formulated 
and  promulgated  four  years,  and  First  Principles  had 
been  for  some  time  published,  when  this  statement  was 
made. 

Mr.  Emerson's  criticism  of  Spencer  is  summary  and  de- 
cisive, as  becomes  a  man  who  has  gone  to  the  bottom  of  a 
§ubject.  Reticent  and  mystical  no  longer,  he  plumps  out 
his  opinion,  when  interviewed,  with  all  the  confidence  of 
one  who  knows  what  he  is  talking  about.  Into  the  pan- 
theon of  immortals,  arranged  for  the  reporter  of  Frank 
Leslie's  newspaper,  none  may  enter  but  star-writers,  and 
Mr.  Spencer  is  only  a  "stock-writer."  We  may,  however, 
presume  that  Mr.  Emerson  has  here  followed  his  trans- 
cendental lights,  as  there  are  many  who  will  insist  that  he 
is  not  for  a  moment  to  be  suspected  of  having  ever  read 
Mr.  Spencer's  books — though  it  will  still  remain  a  mystery 
how  he  has  so  skilfully  contrived  to  make  his  statement 
as  exactly  wrong  as  it  could  be  made.  It  will,  probably, 
matter  little  to  Mr.  Spencer  what  Mr.  Emerson  thinks  of 
his  position,  as  it  may  matter  nothing  to  Mr.  Emerson 
what  we  think  of  his  judgment ;  but  it  should  matter  a 
good  deal  to  him  that  he  do  not  lend  the  influence  of  his 
eminent  name  to  the  perpetration  of  injustice.  Speaking 
in  the  light  of  the  facts  here  sketched,  we  say  that  Mr. 
Emerson  will  search  the  annals  of  authorship  in  vain  to 
find  an  instance  in  which  his  epithet  would  be  more  grossly 
misapplied.  And  we  will  do  him  the  justice  to  say  that  in 


Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  545 

other  days  he  has  taught  us  a  more  generous  lesson  in  re- 
gard to  what  is  due  from  the  manly  and  liberal-minded  to 
the  heroic  endeavours  of  noble  and  unrecognized  men. 
Many  of  his  admirers  will  recall  with  pleasure  the  follow- 
ing admirable  passage  :  "  What  is  the  scholar,  what  is  the 
man/0r,  but  for  hospitality  to  every  new  thought  of  his 
time  ?  Have  you  leisure,  power,  property,  friends  ?  you 
shall  be  the  asylum  of  every  new  thought,  every  unproved 
opinion,  every  untried  project,  which  proceeds  out  of  good- 
will and  honest  seeking.  All  the  newspapers,  all  the 
tongues  of  to-day,  will,  of  course,  at  first  defame  what  is 
noble;  but  you,  who  hold  not  of  to-day,  not  of  the  times, 
but  of  the  everlasting,  are  to  stand  for  it ;  and  the  highest 
compliment  man  ever  receives  from  Heaven  is  the  sending 
to  him  its  disguised  and  discredited  angels."  This  is  a 
grand  exhortation,  and  has  no  doubt  thrilled  many  a  reader 
with  enthusiasm  for  the  rising  thoughts  of  his  time.  But 
the  difficulty  still  remains,  how  to  identify  the  celestial 
messengers!  Such  are  the  eccentricities  of  human  judg- 
ment, that  the  sympathy  which  Mr.  Emerson  invokes  is  as 
likely  to  be  given  to  the  worthless  as  to  the  worthy.  And 
what  shall  we  say  about  the  duty  of  common  mortals  re- 
specting the  "  disguised  and  discredited  angels,"  when  the 
Seer  himself  snubs  the  author  of  First  Principles  as  a 
"stock-writer,"  and  says  to  the  author  of  that  unclean  im- 
posture, Leaves  of  Grass,  "  I  greet  you  at  the  beginning  of 
a  great  career  "  ? 


NOTE  A. — Page  506. 

PULPIT  exposition,  in  this  case,  is  to  be  taken  as  representing  the  force 
of  tradition,  the  persistence  of  habit,  and  the  adherence  to  stereotyped 
ideas  and  forms  of  expression,  which  have  been  so  long  used  in  sacred 
relations  that  they  have  become  sacred — rather  than  the  actual  and  living 
belief.  There  has  come  to  be  a  great  discrepancy  in  this  matter  between 
pulpit  presentations  and  the  private  opinions  of  clergymen.  An  example 
24 


546  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

of  this  occurred  when  Prof.  Huxley  was  invited  to  address  the  clerical 
body  of  Sion  College,  and  took  up,  as  the  subject  of  his  discourse,  "  The 
Antiquity  of  the  Earth,  of  Man,  and  of  Civilization."  His  address  was 
followed  by  discussion,  in  accordance  with  custom,  when  several  clergy- 
men took  occasion  to  express  their  surprise  that  Prof.  Huxley  should  have 
chosen  such  a  subject  for  such  an  audience  ;  that  his  facts  were  very  ele- 
mentary, and  his  views  long  established  and  quite  commonplace,  and  that 
the  speaker  greatly  underrated  the  intelligence  of  clergymen  if  he  supposed 
they  needed  primary  lessons  on  that  subject.  To  this  Prof.  Huxley  re- 
plied :  "  Why,  then,  do  you  not  teach  these  things  to  your  congregations?" 
But  there  are  plenty  of  clergymen  still  who  inculcate  the  old  views  by  no 
means  as  a  matter  of  routine.  They  maintain  them  with  vigour,  and  still 
denounce  the  modern  doctrines  with  fiery  vehemence.  An  illustration  of 
this  is  afforded  by  a  sermon  lately  preached  in  New  York  by  Rev.  George 
B.  Cheever,  on  Evolution,  of  which  the  following  passages  are  samples 
from  the  Tribune  report.  Mr.  Darwin  having  referred  to  the  notion  of  the 
special  creation  of  man  as  a  miserable  hypothesis,  Dr.  Cheever  remarks  : 
"  Observe  this  language,  the  miserable  assumption  of  a  special  creation, 
spoken  or  written  in  the  full  knowledge  that,  instead  of  being  an  assump- 
tion at  all,  it  is  the  very  first  truth  taught  in  the  Bible,  as  clearly  as  the 
being  of  a  God,  and  no  more  to  be  disputed  by  a  Christian  than  that,  but 
plainly  revealed  as  the  foundation  of  all  the  obligations  and  duties  of 
religion,  and  the  corner  stone  on  which  the  whole  scheme  of  Christianity 
rests.  .  .  . 

"  If  you  demand  positive  and  actual  chronology  for  these  postulated, 
illimitable  ages,  the  archaeological  and  geological  scientists  have  an  alma- 
nac of  Greek  scientific  terminologies,  under  the  cloak  of  which  both  ab- 
sence and  assumption  of  knowledge  without  facts  they  may  hide  them- 
selves— Eocene,  Miocene,  Pliocene,  and  Pleistocene — ingenious  compounds 
of  two  Greek  words  ;  the  dawn  of  recent  time,  the  less  recent,  the  more 
recent,  the  most  recent.  The  use  of  these  forms  of  scientific  learning  being 
established,  when  you  ask  the  age  of  any  given  development  or  stratum, 
you  are  answered,  it  was  Pliocene,  or  Post-Pliocene,  or  Eocene,  or  Miocene. 
You  must  be  content,  for  these  are  but  parts  of  the  grammar  of  endless 
genealogies,  which  you  must  accept  for  certainties,  and  any  further  ques- 
tioning can  only  show  your  ignorance  of  what  be  the  very  first  principles 
of  the  knowledge  of  earth  and  time  in  the  processes  of  evolution.  The 
first  postulate  of  this  philosophy  is  that  of  countless  millions  of  years  to 
work  in,  with  no  creator,  and  no  authority  that  can  bring  it  to  book.  Such 
being  the  basis  of  scientific  evolution,  what  can  be  the  God,  or  the  natural 
principle,  at  work  for  such  results  through  illimitable  ages  ?  Is  it  any  gain 
to  such  a  system,  or  does  it  obviate,  or  soften,  or  neutralize  its  irreligion, 


Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  547 

its  atheistic  tendency,  its  monstrosity  and  cruelty,  to  suppose  a  God,  or 
what  is  called  God,  hiding  himself  behind  all  these  millions  of  ages,  and 
setting  all  this  in  motion  by  inexorable  law  that  evolves  its  products  by 
natural  selection,  but  gives  neither  idea,  nor  knowledge,  nor  revelation 
of  God,  but,  on  the  contrary,  makes  it  impossible  that  God  should  be  a 
father  or  should  ever  interpose  for  the  guidance  or  benefit  of  his  creatures, 
or  indeed  should  ever  have  acted  with  personal  will  and  purpose,  benevo- 
lence, and  power,  as  their  Creator?  .... 

'•  By  their  scheme,  there  never  was,  and  never  could  have  been,  a  deity 
interposing  to  instruct  Adam,  to  educate  Abraham,  to  inspire  Joseph,  to 
put  down  oppressing  Pharaoh,  to  change  the  rod  of  Moses  into  a  serpent, 
to  create  an  additional  frog,  louse,  or  mosquito,  in  Egypt ;  to  call  for  the 
waters  of  a  deluge,  to  spread  abroad  a  rainbow,  to  speak  to  the  rain  to  fall 
on  one  piece  of  ground  and  not  on  another ;  to  commission  a  famine,  or  a 
pestilence,  or  a  flash  of  lightning  ;  every  drop  of  rain,  and  every  shower, 
and  every  ray  of  light,  and  every  blade  of  grass,  having  been  so  unalterably 
woven  out  of  the  original  supply  of  force  in  the  web  of  order,  continuous 
and  unbroken  forever,  as  not  to  admit  of  a  possibility  of  interference  or 
alteration." 

NOTE  B. — Page  510. 

IN  regard  to  Mr.  Spencer's  education,  a  few  words  may  be  added.  As 
a  child  he  had  a  delicate  constitution,  and  his  father,  feeling  the  danger 
of  exposing  him  to  the  usual  course  of  education,  kept  him  from  school, 
and  attended  to  his  early  instruction  himself.  In  this  respect  his  case 
was  like  that  of  Mr.  Mill,  but  the  plan  pursued  was  very  different.  For, 
while  young  Mill's  mind  was  forced  out  by  a  stern  coercive  discipline, 
that  of  Spencer  was  led  out  by  awakening  an  interest  in  knowledge,  and 
guiding  and  encouraging  the  spontaneous  tendencies  of  his  mind.  His 
father  was  a  professed  mathematical  teacher,  and  the  son's  mathematical 
studies  began  early,  and  were  continued  systematically  with  a  view  to  his 
prospective  vocation  as  a  civil  engineer.  This  course  was  chosen  because 
Herbei't  early  exhibited  a  marked  aptitude  for  mechanics,  mathematics, 
and  scientific  studies,  and  because  the  occupation  of  engineering  would 
combine  useful  employment  with  outdoor  activity,  which  was  favourable 
to  health,  and  was  demanded  by  his  slender  constitution.  Mr.  Mill's 
early  education  was  purely  one  of  books,  and  in  his  autobiography  he 
expresses  regret  that  he  never  had  the  discipline  of  trying  experiments  in 
science,  or  even  the  advantage  of  seeing  them.  Young  Spencer,  on  the 
other  hand,  went  early  into  the  practical  work  of  science.  He  cultivated 
natural  history,  collected  an  herbarium,  and  experimented  in  physics  and 


548  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

chemistry.  The  bent  of  his  mind,  moreover,  early  attracted  him  to  origi- 
nal investigation,  and  it  is  known  that,  before  the  age  of  seventeen,  he 
had  discovered  and  worked  out  the  electrotype  process  independently. 
He  had  also  solved  certain  difficult  original  problems  relating  to  his  chosen 
profession,  and  devised  a  new  and  ingenious  theorem  in  descriptive 
geometry,  which  were  afterward  published  in  The  Civil  Engineer  and 
Architect's  Journal.  He  compleied  his  mathematical  studies  with  his 
uncle,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Spencer,  a  cultivated  scholar,  who  graduated  with 
honours  at  Cambridge.  He  was  also  a  man  of  great  liberality,  advanced 
in  his  political  views,  and  the  first  clergyman  of  the  Established  Church 
to  take  a  public  and  prominent  part  in  the  movement  for  the  repeal  of  the 
Corn  Laws,  having  written  and  published  extensively  upon  the  subject. 
At  seventeen  young  Spencer  commenced  life  as  a  civil  engineer,  being 
first  engaged  under  Mr.  Charles  Fox,  afterward  Sir  Charles  Fox,  who  had 
been  a  pupil  of  his  father,  and  afterward  built  the  great  Exhibition  build- 
ing of  1850.  Some  eight  years  were  spent  in  this  profession,  when  the 
reaction  from  the  railway  mania  of  1845  led  to  such  a  depression  in  the 
engineering  business  that  he  abandoned  it,  and  gave  himself  up  to  sys- 
tematic study  and  a  career  of  authorship. 

NOTE  C. — Page  519. 

THE  following  passage  is  from  an  able  article  republished  in  The 
Popular  Science  Monthly,  from  the  Westminster  Review,  on  the  De- 
velopment of  Psychology : 

"  If  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  had  no  other  title  to  fame,  he  would  still  be 
the  greatest  of  psychologists.  The  vast  construction  of  his  First  Prin- 
ciples will  ever  be  a  monument  of  his  extraordinary  powers  of  general- 
ization. His  designed  organization  of  the  Social  Science  opens  up  the 
prospect  of  intellectual  acquisitions  in  the  future,  to  which  the  past  may 
furnish  few  parallels.  But  the  Principles  of  Psychology  will  still  remain, 
in  its  symmetrical  completeness  and  perfect  adequacy  to  the  subject,  at 
once  the  most  remarkable  of  his  achievements  and  the  most  scientific 
treatise  on  the  Mind  which  has  yet  seen  the  light.  Its  publication  in  1855 
did  not  make  a  sensation.  The  persistent  efforts  of  Mill  had  not  yet  suc- 
ceeded in  stemming  the  muddy  tide  of  the  prevailing  scholasticism.  The 
bastard  Kantism  of  Hamilton  did  duty  for  Metaphysics,  and  the  Common- 
Sense  Philosophy  of  Reid,  with  the  common  sense  left  out,  usurped  the 
place  of  experimental  psychology.  Experimental  Psychology  was  as  usual 
busy  with  analysis,  and  had  no  eye  for  an  imposing  synthetical  effort.  Mr. 
Spencer's  work  had,  accordingly,  a  chill  reception.  Greeted  by  the  aristo- 
cratic metaphysicians  with  only  a  few  words  of  courtly  compliment,  but 


Herbert  Spencer  and  tJie  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  549 

treated  practically  with  supercilious  disregard,  it  was  received  by  psycholo- 
gists of  the  Association  school  with  hardly  more  favour  than  the  snarling 
approval  with  which  a  constitutional  Whig  views  the  entry  into  the  cabinet 
of  a  Birmingham  Radical.  Mr.  Spencer  was  ahead  of  his  generation,  and 
paid  the  penalty  of  his  prescience  in  twenty  years  of  neglect.  But  now 
the  wheel  is  coming  round.  The  bovine  British  public,  constitutionally 
disposed,  indeed,  to  apathy,  but  drugged  into  a  leaden  slumber  by  its 
medicine  men,  is  at  last  awakening  to  the  fact  that  the  peer  of  Bacon  and 
Newton  is  here.  Writers  of  all  schools  are  hastening  to  define  their  po- 
sition with  reference  to  the  Synthetic  Philosophy.  .  .  .  Whatever  part  of 
this  philosophy  may  be  transitory,  Mr.  Spencer's  present  influence  is  in- 
disputable ;  and,  since  the  lamented  death  of  Mill,  no  one  can  now  con- 
test his  claims  to  the  philosophic  supremacy  in  these  islands.  That  su- 
premacy rests  mainly  on  his  Psychology.  .  .  .  Mr.  Spencer's  numerous 
psychological  advances  may  be  grouped  in  two  divisions :  the  application 
to  mind  of  the  theory  of  development,  and  the  connection  of  psychological 
evolution  with  evolution  in  general.  The  last  edition  of  his  work  also 
incorporates  Mr.  Darwin's  law  of  natural  selection  in  the  explanation  of 
the  emotions,  but  this  may  be  regarded  as  simply  an  extension  of  the  de- 
velopment theory.  In  the  working  out  of  both  principles,  Mr.  Spencer 
has  followed  the  lead  of  the  physical  sciences.  .  .  .  With  a  prescient  in- 
sight into  the  future  of  science  which  has  probably  few  parallels,  Mr.  Spen- 
cer founded  his  Psychology  on  the  hypothesis  of  development.  To  all  but 
a  few  deep-thinking  observers  there  can  have  seemed  few  signs  in  1855 
that  that  hotly  disputed  theory  was  ever  likely  to  be  in  the  ascendant. 
The  exposition  of  none  of  the  organic  sciences,  that  we  know  of,  had  yet 
been  based  on  it,  and  its  application  to  mind  was  undreamt  of.  But,  with 
a  confidence  in  the  intuitions  of  reason,  which  is  one  of  the  clearest 
attributes  of  speculative  genius,  and  which  may  have  its  analogue  in  the 
statesman,  in  the  nerve  to  take  the  vessel  of  the  state  over  a  bar,  Mr.  Spen- 
cer assumed  the  provisional  truth  of  the  theory,  and  it  might  be  difficult  to 
exaggerate  the  extent  to  which  his  exhibition  of  it  in  Psychology  has  con- 
tributed to  its  establishment." 

NOTE  D. — Page  519, 

HIGH  as  was  Mr.  Mill's  estimate  of  the  Principles  of  Psychology,  we 
believe  he  never  grew  to  a  full  appreciation  of  it.  He  was  an  ardent  par- 
tisan of  the  experiential  psychology  as  opposed  to  the  intuitional,  and  his 
bias  prevented  him  from  discerning  the  immense  step  that  Mr.  Spencer 
had  taken  in  harmonizing  the  fundamental  disagreements  of  the  two 
schools.  His  position,  as  defined  in  the  Autobiography,  is  that  "  there  is 


550  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

not  any  idea,  feeling,  or  power  in  the  human  mind,  which,  in  order  to 
account  for  it,  requires  that  its  origin  should  be  referred  to  any  other 
source  than  experience,"  and  by  this  he  means  the  experience  of  the  in- 
dividual. How  strong  his  feeling  was  against  the  a  priori  view  is  illus- 
trated by  a  further  passage  in  the  Autobiography.  He  says  :  "  Whatever 
may  be  the  practical  value  of  a  true  philosophy  of  these  matters,  it  is 
hardly  possible  to  exaggerate  the  mischiefs  of  a  false  one.  The  notion 
that  truths  external  to  the  mind  may  be  known  by  intuition  or  conscious- 
ness, independently  of  observation  and  experience,  is,  I  am  persuaded,  in 
these  times  the  great  intellectual  support  of  false  doctrines  and  bad  insti- 
tutions. By  the  aid  of  this  theory,  every  inveterate  belief  and  every  in- 
tense feeling,  of  which  the  origin  is  not  remembered,  is  enabled  to  dis- 
pense with  the  obligation  of  justifying  itself  by  reason,  and  is  erected  into 
its  own  all-sufficient  voucher  and  justification.  There  never  was  such  an 
instrument  devised  for  consecrating  all  deep-seated  prejudices."  Mr.  Spen- 
cer, on  the  contrary,  held  that  the  intuitionalists  are  right  in  this,  that  the 
ideas,  feelings,  and  powers  of  the  mind  cannot  be  explained  as  originating 
in  the  experience  of  the  individual,  but  that  there  are  intuitions  or  capaci- 
ties of  knowing  born  with  us.  But,  instead  of  merely  assuming  these  with 
the  intuitionalists  as  ultimate  principles  beyond  explication,  he  maintains 
that  they  originate  in  the  experiences  of  the  race  which  have  been  accu- 
mulated and  transmitted  to  the  individual  in  his  organization.  Intuitions 
are  thus  affirmed,  but  their  basis  is  laid  in  hereditary  life,  and  the  law  of 
evolution  thus  becomes  the  key  to  the  deepest  interpretation  of  mental 
phenomena. 

In  his  recent  able  work,  entitled  Principles  of  Mental  Physiology,  Dr. 
Carpenter  remarks:  "  No  physiologist  can  deem  it  improbable  that  the 
intuitions  which  we  recognize  in  our  own  mental  constitution  have  been 
acquired  by  a  process  of  gradual  development  in  the  race  corresponding  to 
that  which  we  trace  by  observation  in  the  individual.  .  .  .  The  doctrine 
that  the  intellectual  and  moral  intuitions  of  any  one  generation  are  the 
embodiments  in  its  mental  constitution  of  the  experiences  of  the  race  was 
first  explicitly  put  forth  by  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer,  in  whose  philosophical 
treatises  it  will  be  found  most  ably  developed."  Dr.  Carpenter  further- 
more says  that  "  the  great  master  of  the  experiential  school,  Mr.  J.  S.  Mill, 
was  latterly  tending  toward  the  acceptance  of  this  view,"  the  evidence  of 
which  is  given  in  the  following  quotation  from  a  letter  of  Mr.  Mill  upon 
the  subject  to  Dr.  Carpenter:  "There  is  also  considerable  evidence  that 
such  acquired  facilities  of  passing  into  certain  modes  of  cerebral  action 
can  in  many  cases  be  transmitted,  more  or  less  completely,  by  inheritance. 
The  limits  of  this  transmission,  and  the  conditions  on  which  it  depends, 
are  a  subject  now  fairly  before  the  scientific  world  ;  and  we  shall,  doubt- 


Herbert  Spencer  and  the  Doctrine  of  Evolution.  551 

less,  in  time  know  much  more  about  them  than  we  do  now.  But,  so  far  as 
my  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  subject  extends,  I  take  much  the  same 
view  of  it  that  you  do,  at  least  in  principle."  We  thus  see  how  profoundly 
the  foremost  psychologist  of  his  time  was  ultimately  influenced  in  his  most 
radical  philosophical  views  by  the  doctrines  of  Mr.  Spencer ;  and,  when 
we  remember  how  completely  Mr.  Spencer  had  already  reconstructed  the 
new  psychology  upon  the  basis  of  the  principle  thus  lately  and  partially 
recognized  by  Mr.  Mill,  we  are  enabled  to  see  how  far  he  was  in  advance 
of  his  age  in  dealing  with  this  great  subject. 

NOTE  E. — Page  527. 

INTERESTED  in  all  that  relates  to  the  history  of  Mr.  Spencer's  enter- 
prise, and  the  conditions  under  which  it  was  launched,  when  I  learned 
about  his  being  sustained  by  eminent  men  in  his  application  to  Govern- 
ment, I  sought  to  know  what  kind  of  action  they  took,  and  found  that 
their  influence  was  given  in  the  shape  of  letters  to  Mr.  Spencer,  to  be 
used  with  the  Government  authorities.  They  were  written  by  Mr.  J.  S. 
Mill,  George  Grote,  and  Profs.  Huxley,  Fraser,  Hooker,  Tyndall,  and 
Latham,  in  1859,  fifteen  years  ago,  and  were,  of  course,  responsible  esti- 
mates of  Mr.  Spencer  as  a  thinker  by  some  of  the  most  distinguished  of 
his  contemporaries.  At  my  request,  Mr.  Spencer  favoured  me  with  the 
reading  of  these  letters,  and  the  effect  of  their  perusal  was  to  produce 
a  feeling  of  profound  regret  that  they  had  never  been  given  to  the  pub- 
lic ;  for  this  would  certainly  have  made  an  important  difference  in  the  re- 
ception accorded  to  his  philosophical  project.  The  writers  recognized 
that  Mr.  Spencer  was  eminently  the  man  to  do  a  great  and  special  work 
for  the  advancement  and  organization  of  knowledge  in  this  age — a  work 
which  the  British  Government  would  honour  itself  by  promoting  ;  and  they 
predicted  the  utmost  that  time  has  fulfilled  in  regard  to  the  undertaking. 
But  Mr.  Spencer  regarded  the  letters  as  written  for  a  special  purpose,  and 
therefore  not  to  be  appropriated  to  any  other.  They,  however,  belonged 
to  the  initial  stage  of  his  enterprise,  were  designed  to  aid  it,  and  should, 
I  think,  have  been  used  for  that  object.  I  refer  to  this  circumstance  be- 
cause it  is  an  interesting  fact ;  and  I  have  the  less  concern  in  speaking 
about  it,  as  the  author  of  one  of  the  letters  assured  me  that  the  writers 
designed  them  for  publication. 


VI. 

THE   CHARGES  AGAINST   THE  POPULAR 
SCIENCE  MONTHLY. 

THE  publishers  of  this  magazine,  having  declined  any 
longer  to  issue  the  North  American  Review  because  of  its 
recent  articles  from  the  pen  of  Colonel  Ingersoll,  have  been 
charged  with  inconsistency  on  the  ground  that,  in  respect 
to  the  matter  objected  to,  the  periodical  they  retain  is  as 
bad  as  the  one  they  have  dismissed.  A  writer  in  the  Even- 
ing Post  says:  "I  would  like  to  know  how  and  where 
Messrs.  Appleton  &  Co.  draw  the  line  which  makes  the 
same  opinions  detestable  in  the  North  American  Re- 
view, which  are  endured  in  The  Popular  Science  Monthly. 
The  editorial  views  of  the  latter  publication  are  certainly 
as  pronounced  in  their  atheistical  tendencies  as  anything 
Colonel  Ingersoll  ever  uttered,  and  for  a  long  period  of 
years  this  journal  has  published  everything  of  interest 
written  by  pronounced  atheists,  and  excluded  everything 
which  has  appeared  of  merit  on  the  other  side.  The  papers 
of  Herbert  Spencer,  and  others  of  his  class,  have  been  pre- 
sented, but  such  writers  as  the  Duke  of  Argyll  have  never 
been  permitted  to  offer  their  views." 

This  accusation  against  The  Popular  Science  Monthly, 
that  it  is  a  teacher  of  atheism,  has  been  made  before,  and 
met  before ;  but,  as  the  present  circumstances  give  it  point 
and  revive  its  interest,  we  propose  now  to  reconsider  it, 
and  again  see  what  it  amounts  to.  We  shall  thereby  be 
enabled  to  judge  whether  the  two  magazines  really  teach 

(552) 


The  Charges  Against  the  Popular  Science  Monthly.  553 

the  "same   opinions"  upon  this  subject,  as  the  writer  in 
the  Post  affirms. 

The  paragraph  just  quoted  would  have  been  more  sat- 
isfactory if  it  had  been  more  explicit ;  for  here,  if  any- 
where, clear  distinctions  are  demanded.  What  does  the 
writer  mean  by  "  pronounced  atheistical  tendencies  "  and 
"  pronounced  atheists  "  ?  Does  he  mean  that  their  atheism 
is  avowed,  or  imputed ;  that  they  pronounce  themselves 
atheists,  or  are  so  pronounced  by  others  ?  These  are  not 
only  different  things,  but  the  distinction  is  here  very  ma- 
terial ;  so  that  it  becomes  necessary,  before  we  can  find  out 
who  are  truly  atheists,  to  have  the  test  by  which  they  are 
known.  Because  a  man  is  called  an  atheist,  are  we  to  hold 
that  he  is  therefore,  in  fact,  an  atheist  ?  We  were  once 
accosted  by  an  inquisitive  Irishman  thus:  "D'ye  b'lieve  in 
the  mother  o'  God  ?  "  "  No."  "  Be  gorry,  ye're  an  athe- 
ist !  I  wouldn't  be  in  yer  boots  for  twenty  pound."  Was 
that  a  satisfactory  basis  of  classification  ?  Prof.  Huxley 
had  a  cook  who  got  on  a  drunken  spree,  and  made  such  a 
row  in  the  house  that  the  police  were  called.  As  she  was 
hustled  through  the  yard,  she  sent  back  a  blast,  of  which  all 
that  could  be  understood  was  an  emphatic  "  damn  athish !  " 
Is  Prof.  Huxley,  therefore,  to  be  ranked  as  a  "pronounced 
atheist  "  ?  But,  if  a  drunken  cook  is  not  an  authority  on  this 
point,  is  a  sober  bigot  any  better  ?  It  is  the  common  and 
very  foolish  trick  of  religious  partisans  to  stigmatize  those 
who  differ  from  them  in  their  views  of  Deity  as  atheists. 
Each  one  identifies  God  with  his  own  scheme  of  belief,  and, 
if  that  scheme  is  objected  to,  the  objector  is  denounced  as 
a  denier  of  God.  Particularly  where  the  conception  of 
God  is  low,  gross,  and  materialistic,  is  every  higher  view 
charged  with  atheism.  There  is,  however,  no  honest  diffi- 
culty here.  We  have  exactly  the  same  means  of  knowing 
atheists  that  we  have  of  knowing  Baptists  or  Buddhists — 
that  is,  by  what  they  profess  and  teach.  We  should  call 


554  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

Bradlaugh  a  "  pronounced  atheist,"  because  we  have 
heard  him  say  that  he  is  the  only  man  who  ever  ran  for 
Parliament  distinctly  as  an  atheist.  He  has,  besides,  a 
large  following  in  open  agreement  with  him,  and  who  may, 
therefore,  be  properly  called  atheists.  A  "pronounced 
atheist "  in  short,  must  simply  be  one  who  pronounces  him- 
self an  atheist. 

And  now,  having  found  that  atheists  are  those  who 
avow  a  certain  belief,  it  is  desirable  to  note  distinctly  what 
that  belief  is.  "  Atheism,"  says  Webster,  "  is  the  denial  of 
the  existence  of  a  God."  But  the  term  God  has  many  sig- 
nifications, and  is  variously  defined.  We  take  the  highest 
definition  given  by  Webster,  "the  Supreme  Being;  the 
Eternal  and  Infinite  Spirit."  A  pronounced  atheist,  there- 
fore, is  one  who  professes  to  deny  the  existence  of  "the 
Supreme  Being;  the  Eternal  and  Infinite  Spirit." 

The  writer  in  the  Post  declares  that  the  Popular  Sci- 
ence Monthly  "  has  published  everything  of  interest  written 
by  'pronounced  atheists,'  and  excluded  everything  that 
appeared  of  merit  on  the  other  side."  The  other  side  of 
what  ?  Why,  the  advocacy  of  atheism,  of  course  !  That 
is,  "  for  a  long  period  of  years  "  this  magazine  has  been 
given  over  to  the  work  of  teaching  the  doctrine  of  the 
non-existence  of  "  the  Eternal  and  Infinite  Spirit."  This 
statement  is  not  true ;  it  has  not  a  vestige  of  truth  in  it ; 
it  is  wholly  and  absolutely  false.  This  is  one  of  the 
charges  that  calls  for  proof,  and  happily  the  writer  has 
given  his  proof.  It  is  this,  and  nothing  else — that  "the 
papers  of  Herbert  Spencer  and  others  of  his  class  "  have 
appeared  in  The  Popular  Science  Monthly.  That  any 
such  papers  really  have  the  character  charged,  there  is  not 
the  slightest  attempt  at  proof. 

But  Herbert  Spencer  is  not  an  atheist,  and  never  has 
been.  He  has  never  declared  his  belief  in  atheism,  and  he 
is  a  man  who  expresses  his  opinions  very  freely  and  with 


The  Charges  Against  the  Popular  Science  Monthly.  555 

but  little  regard  for  their  popularity.  He  has  been  called 
an  atheist,  but  that,  as  we  have  seen,  will  not  do.  If  we 
had  space  we  could  fill  pages  with  admissions  on  the  part 
of  all  his  ablest  theological  critics  that  he  is  not  an  atheist. 
We  challenge  the  Post  writer  to  produce  a  single  passage 
in  all  his  writings,  in  the  Monthly  or  out,  either  avowing  or 
defending  atheism.  On  the  contrary,  he  has  laboured  with 
all  the  power  of  his  genius  to  prove  that  atheism  as  a 
theory  of  the  universe  (which  it  professes  to  be)  is  baseless 
and  indefensible.  And  more  than  this,  no  man  of  the  pres- 
ent age  has  reasoned  out  the  foundations  of  man's  belief 
in  the  existence  of  the  "  Infinite  and  Eternal  Spirit  "  with 
such  a  depth  of  analysis  and  logical  force  as  Herbert  Spen- 
cer. He  has  sought  to  show  that  the  "  Infinite  and  Eternal 
Spirit,"  of  which  all  the  phenomena  of  the  universe  are  but 
the  manifestations,  is  the  most  absolute  of  all  realities. 

And  still  more  than  this  is  true.  Mr.  Spencer  has  gone 
beyond  the  theologians  in  their  own  line,  and  has  rescued 
them  from  the  consequences  of  their  own  logic.  Every  in- 
telligent person  knows  that  there  has  been  a  great  progress 
in  the  religious  ideas  of  mankind  ;  and  in  nothing  has  that 
progress  been  so  clearly  evinced  as  in  the  gradual  elevation 
of  man's  conceptions  of  the  character  of  the  deity  he  wor- 
ships. During  all  the  primitive  ages  religion  was  idolatry, 
and  still  is  so,  almost  all  over  the  world.  But  with 
growing  intelligence  there  slowly  arises  a  higher  idea  of 
the  Divine  nature.  Polytheism  passes  into  monotheism, 
and  the  gross,  limited,  anthropomorphic  idea  of  God  gives 
place  to  the  loftier  ideal  of  an  "  Infinite  and  Eternal  Spirit." 
In  this  clearing  away  of  limitations  how  far  was  the  work 
to  go,  and  what  to  be  finally  left  ?  The  theologians  had 
been  driving  destructive  criticism  to  its  last  extreme, 
with  but  little  apparent  care  for  the  consequences.  There 
grew  up  a  vigorous  ecclesiastical  agnosticism,  asserted 
even  by  the  fathers  of  the  Church.  Clemens  Alexandrinus 


556  Edward  Livingston   Yonmans. 

(A.  D.  200)  says  of  God,  "  We  know  not  what  he  is,  but  only 
what  he  is  not."  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  (A.  D.  350)  affirms, 
"  To  know  God  is  beyond  man's  power."  St.  Augustine 
(A.  D.  400)  observes,  "  Rare  is  the  mind  that  in  speaking  of 
God  knows  what  it  means."  John  of  Damascus  (A.  D.  800) 
declares,  "What  is  the  substance  of  God,  or  how  he  exists 
in  all  things,  we  are  agnostics,  and  cannot  say  a  word." 
Duns  Scotus  (A.  D.  1300)  remarks:  "Is  God  accessible  to 
our  reason  ?  I  hold  that  he  is  not."  This  tendency  to  re- 
move the  Divine  nature  beyond  the  grasp  of  reason,  and 
to  hold  that  "a  God  understood  is  no  God  at  all,"  has 
grown  in  strength  in  modern  times,  and  reached  its  full 
expression  in  the  theological  philosophy  of  Hamilton  and 
Mansell,  which  landed  inquiry  upon  this  subject  in  blank 
negation.  Finding  that  the  "  Infinite  and  Eternal  Spirit  " 
transcended  and  baffled  all  reason^  they  assumed  that  rea- 
son brings  us  to  an  infinite  nothing,  so  that  we  have  no 
alternative  but  to  give  up  the  idea  of  an  Infinite  Power, 
or  fall  back  upon  faith.  Mr.  Spencer  strenuously  resisted 
this  conclusion.  He  maintained  that  the  most  inexorable 
logic  brings  us  not  to  an  Infinite  Nothing,  but  to  an  Infi- 
nite Something;  and,  although  this  "  Eternal  Spirit  "  tran- 
scends the  reach  of  reason,  and  is  "  past  finding  out,"  yet 
that  its  existence  is  the  profoundest  of  all  verities.  Where 
the  case  broke  down  in  the  hands  of  the  theological  ana- 
lysts, he  insists  that  it  is  demonstrably  the  strongest. 
Whether  he  proves  his  case  is  not  here  the  question ;  we 
only  declare  that  such  is  his  position,  which  is  in  dead  an- 
tagonism to  atheism.  But  it  is  proper  to  say  that  many  of 
his  able  opponents  acknowledge  that  Mr.  Spencer  has  con- 
tributed new  and  powerful  arguments  for  the  existence  of 
an  "  Infinite  and  Eternal  Spirit."  In  the  presence  of  these 
facts,  well  known  to  all  who  care  to  know,  what  shall  we 
say  of  the  veracity,  the  honour,  or  even  the  decency  of 
those  who  flippantly  reiterate  this  groundless  charge  ? 


The  Charges  Against  the  Popular  Science  Monthly.  557 

And  it  is  important  here  still  further  to  observe  that 
Mr.  Spencer  is  not  a  denier  or  antagonist  of  religion.  He 
holds  it  to  be  a  reality,  a  great  truth ;  in  short,  nothing  less 
than  an  essential  and  indestructible  element  of  human  na- 
ture. The  religious  institutions  of  the  world,  he  maintains, 
represent  a  genuine  and  universal  feeling  in  the  race  just 
as  really  as  any  other  institutions.  With  the  accessory 
superstitions  which  in  all  ages  of  ignorance  have  overgrown 
and  perverted  the  religious  sentiment,  he  is,  of  course,  not 
in  agreement ;  and  he  maintains  that  the  confounding  of 
these  with  the  religious  sentiment  itself  is  a  mischievous 
mistake  of  religionists  and  anti-religionists  alike.  And  he 
furthermore  holds  *that  science,  in  clearing  away  these  su- 
perstitions, is  bringing  us  ever  nearer  to  the  underlying 
truth,  and  is  therefore  doing  the  highest  religious  work. 
And,  besides,  in  all  his  discussions  of  religious  subjects, 
though  bold,  he  is  reverent,  respectful  to  sincerity,  tolerant 
of  honest  prejudice,  and  never  wantonly  irritating  in  the 
treatment  of  what  he  regards  as  religious  errors. 

A  line  is  to  be  here  drawn,  clear  and  sharp,  separating 
this  mode  of  regarding  religion  from  that  which  proclaims 
it  to  be  a  sham,  an  imposture,  and  a  mere  invention  of 
priestcraft  to  cheat  credulous  people.  Between  him  who 
believes  that  religion  is  a  great  and  sacred  reality,  and  him 
who  denounces  it  root  and  branch  as  a  delusion  originating 
in  fraud  and  knavery,  there  can  be  no  common  ground. 
These  are  not  the  "  same  opinions,"  but  diametrically  op- 
posite opinions.  A  criticism  of  religious  errors,  however 
trenchant  it  may  be,  if  it  gives  the  subject  sincere  and  re- 
spectful consideration,  is  as  different  as  any  two  things  can 
be,  from  a  spiteful,  ruthless,  and  exasperating  assault  upon 
th£  religious  sentiment  of  the  community.  And  when 
these  opinions  are  published  for  no  other  reason  than  to 
startle  and  shock  the  public  by  their  audacity,  and  for  no 
other  than  a  sordid  purpose,  the  case  is  still  further  aggra- 


558  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

vated.  The  Popular  Science  Monthly  has  left  others  to 
make  what  they  might  out  of  this  policy. 

The  writer  in  the  Post  complains  that  we  have  not  pub- 
lished the  views  of  such  men  as  the  Duke  of  Argyll,  to 
which  we  reply :  i.  That  we  should  have  been  glad  to  pub- 
lish the  Duke  of  Argyll's  articles,  but  had  no  room  for 
them.  2.  That  we  started  a  supplement  to  make  more 
room,  and  did  publish  the  views  of  the  Duke  of  Argyll.  3. 
That  the  papers  of  his  Grace  have  been  very  widely  re- 
printed in  other  channels,  so  that  the  public  has  ex- 
perienced no  inconvenience  from  the  want  of  them.  The 
Monthly,  we  must  remember,  was  established  not  for  the 
display  of  polemical  pugilism,  but  for  the  serious  purpose 
of  placing  before  American  readers  the  most  important  re- 
sults of  scientific  thought  as  presented  by  its  ablest  ex- 
positors. So  far,  indeed,  has  it  been  from  seeking  sensa- 
tional papers,  that  its  main  purpose  was  to  publish  a  class 
of  valuable  scientific  articles,  which,  because  they  are  too 
heavy  or  will  not  pay,  or  conflict  with  public  prejudices, 
were  systematically  excluded  from  our  current  magazines. 
While  striving  to  make  our  pages  as  varied  and  attractive 
as  possible,  we  have  not  sacrificed  the  character  of  the 
magazine  to  promote  its  pecuniary  success.  We  have 
maintained  a  steady  course,  our  last  issue  is  strictly  in  the 
line  of  the  first,  and  all  the  wide  approbation  that  has 
been  accorded  us  from  the  beginning  is  as  applicable  now 
as  it  ever  was. 

The  New  York  Observer,  in  commenting  upon  this  sub- 
ject, agrees  with  the  writer  in  the  Post  that  the  Monthly  is 
as  bad  as  the  Review,  if  not  worse,  and  it  very  plainly 
says  :  "  We  with  thousands  hope  sincerely  that  the  com- 
mendable course  taken  by  the  eminent  publishers,  in  kic£- 
ing  the  Review  out  of  their  premises,  will  be  followed  in 
regard  to  the  Monthly.  Or,  what  would  be  better  still,  let 
us  hope  the  Monthly  will  omit  its  atheistic  teachings,  and 


The  Charges  Against  the  Popular  Science  Monthly.  559 

become  such  an  organ  of  science  as  the  great  body  of  in- 
telligent people  will  admit  with  confidence  into  their 
homes." 

We  have  exploded  the  charge  of  the  Post  writer,  here 
repeated,  because  he  gave  us  his  evidence,  and  we  had 
something  tangible  to  deal  with.  But  the  Observer  scents 
atheism  in  everything  scientific,  and,  if  we  began  to  ex- 
purgate in  accordance  with  its  notions,  we  should  have  to 
expunge  the  whole  Monthly.  For  does  not  the  Observer 
hold  evolution  to  be  atheistic  ?  And  what  would  The  Pop- 
ular Science  Monthly  be,  minus  evolution  ?  It  is  the  new 
dispensation  of  scientific  thought,  cropping  out  every- 
where, antiquating  old  views,  affording  new  explanations, 
reorganizing  knowledge,  and  guiding  the  researches  of 
scientific  men  in  every  field  of  investigation.  Those  who 
do  business  on  old  opinions  are- in  a  great  state  of  pertur- 
bation and  distress  about  it.  Some  are  for  "  giving  in," 
some  are  for  patching  up  compromises,  and  some  for 
"  fighting  it  out."  Meanwhile  the  tide  is  carrying  every- 
thing before  it,  and  the  confusion  of  the  unready  waxes 
grotesque.  The  foreign  periodicals  arrive  monthly  loaded 
with  evolutionary  discussions  ;  and  in  the  last  Contempo- 
rary Review  Calderwood,  of  Edinburgh,  announces  that 
even  Hegelianism  is  but  "  dialectical  evolution." 

The  Observer  suggests  that  we  make  such  a  periodical 
"  as  the  great  body  of  intelligent  people  will  admit  with 
confidence  to  their  homes."  This  sounds  well,  but  what  is 
it  in  a  little  plainer  English  ?  "  Divest  your  Monthly  of 
every  feature  that  can  be  objectionable  to  those  who  care 
a  good  deal  more  for  theological  than  for  scientific  teach- 
ings, and  who  have  a  horror  of  all  science  as  tending  to  in- 
fidelity." We  should  not  be  permitted  to  say  a  word  of 
the  progress  of  scientific  thought,  because  hardly  a  step  is 
taken  anywhere  that  somebody  with  a  dogma  in  that  di- 
rection does  not  cry,  "  Halt,  you  destroyer  of  religion  !  " 


560  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

We  indulge  in  no  exaggeration.  The  Observer  is  au- 
thority here,  and  right  above  the  article  in  which  it  recom- 
mends that  the  Monthly  be  kicked  off  the  premises,  we 
read,  "  SCIENCE  FORGES  WEAPONS  CONSTANTLY  TO  DESTROY 
THE  FAITH."  What  kind  of  a  scientific  magazine  would 
that  be  which  should  be  suited  to  the  state  of  mind  of  the 
dismal  creatures  who  take  such  a  view  of  science  as  this  ? 
We  should  rather  take  the  Observer's  alternative,  and  be 
kicked  into  the  street,  than  to  edit  such  a  periodical. 

The  Observer  accuses  science  of  "  forging  weapons  to 
destroy  the  faith  " ;  but  need  we  remind  it  that  science  de- 
stroys nothing  but  ignorance  and  error  ?  Only  where  faith 
is  the  enemy  of  truth  can  science  be  the  enemy  of  faith. 
Science  is  the  best  friend  of  faith,  for  only  when  it  has  de- 
stroyed all  it  may,  can  faith  have  any  "abiding  founda- 
tion." We  are  afraid  that,  when  the  Observer  invokes  the 
publishers'  boot  as  a  censor  of  science,  it  betrays  some 
want  of  confidence  in  its  own  foundation.  What  shall  we 
say  of  the  security  of  a  religious  edifice  built  upon  the 
basis  of  literal  Old  Testament  history  ?  But  in  the  very 
next  column  to  the  article  we  are  noticing,  it  is  laid  down  : 

"A  DENIAL  OF  THE  LITERAL  VERITY  OF  THE  OLD  TESTA- 
MENT HISTORY  IS  THE  FIRST  STEP  IN  MODERN  INFIDELITY." 

No  more  complete  or  more  mischievous  mistake  can  be 
committed  than  to  impute  to  the  scientific  writers  of  this  age 
any  hostility  to  religion  as  the  motive  of  their  labours.  That 
the  course  of  inquiry  often  conflicts  with  cherished  tenets 
is  undoubtedly  true,  and  it  is  a  painful  fact;  but  to  charge 
scientific  men  with  any  intention  of  inflicting  this  pain,  or 
to  make  them  responsible  for  it,  is  wholly  unjust.  The 
world  has  never  seen  in  all  its  history  a  class  of  men  more 
noble  in  purpose,  more  fair-minded,  more  candid,  tolerant, 
or  considerate,  than  the  class  of  men  who,  in  all  countries, 
though  with  a  common  spirit,  have  devoted  themselves  to 
the  truth — as  it  is  in  science.  They  have  done  their  work 


The  Charges  Against  the  Popular  Science  Monthly.  561 

with  a  single-mindedness,  a  freedom  from  partisan  and  sec- 
tarian passion,  and  an  openness  and  uprightness  of  pur- 
pose, that  find  no  parallel  in  any  other  great  group  of  men 
engaged  in  the  advancement  of  a  common  interest.  These 
men  are  entitled  to  stand  first  in  the  respect  and  confidence 
of  the  community ;  and  to  accuse  them  of  being  animated 
in  their  study  of  nature  by  a  desire  to  destroy  religion,  or 
to  wound  the  feelings  of  religious  people,  is  thoroughly 
unjustifiable. 

The  Popular  Science  Monthly  is  a  record  of  the  scien- 
tific activity  of  the  age  for  the  last  ten  years,  and  it  reflects 
the  breadth,  the  independence,  and  the  catholicity  of 
thought  that  distinguish  the  scientific  men  of  our  time. 
There  may  have  been  things  said  in  it  which  people  with  a 
formulated  faith  find  objectionable  ;  but  they  are  the  re- 
sults of  honest  and  earnest  thought  and  the  incidents  of 
legitimate  discussion,  and  must,  therefore,  be  tolerated. 
Science  cannot  work  under  the  dictation  of  those  inter- 
ested to  restrain  it.  Are  men  who  make  the  supreme  pur- 
pose of  their  lives  the  understanding  of  Nature,  to  stop  re- 
search into  the  laws  of  life,  the  genesis  of  species,  the  an- 
tiquity of  man,  the  functions  of  the  brain,  the  laws  of  social 
growth,  or  the  natural  history  of  superstitions,  because 
there  are  many  who,  without  ever  studying  these  subjects, 
have  views  in  relation  to  them  which  they  do  not  wish 
disturbed  ?  It  is  impossible.  The  great  modern  movement 
of  the  human  mind  which  we  call  science  is  a  part  of  evolv- 
ing Nature,  and  we  have  no  liberty  to  do  anything  but  rep- 
resent it  as  faithfully  as  we  are  able. 


VII. 
CONCERNING    THE  SUPPRESSED  BOOK. 

IT  will  be  no  news  to  the  readers  of  this  Monthly  that 
the  volume  entitled  The  Nature  and  Reality  of  Religion  ;  A 
Controversy  between  Herbert  Spencer  and  Frederic  Harri- 
son, published  by  D.  Appleton  &  Co.  last  March,  has  been 
suppressed  by  order  of  Mr.  Spencer.  This  catastrophe  was 
the  result  of  a  public  correspondence  carried  on  between 
these  gentlemen  in  the  columns  of  the  London  Times. 
Fragments  of  the  letters  were  cabled  to  this  country  as  they 
appeared,  and  were  widely  disseminated  by  the  newspapers, 
producing  some  suspense,  and  giving  a  confused  impression 
of  the  affair.  At  length  came  the  announcement  that  the 
disagreeable  difference  was  happily  composed  ;  but  with  it 
came  also  a  despatch  ordering  the  destruction  of  the  book 
—  copies,  plates,  and  all  —  the  damage  to  be  charged  to  Mr. 
Spencer.  This  seemed  a  curious  way  of  bringing  an  un- 
pleasant difference  between  two  authors  to  a  harmonious 
termination  ;  but  without  waiting  for  explanations,  the 
mandate  was  obeyed  and  the  book  suppressed.  The  letters 
themselves  are  now  before  us,  and  as  they  have  not  all  been 
previously  published  in  this  country,  they  are  herewith  sub- 
mitted to  the  reader  in  full  : 

THE   SPENCER-HARRISON   CORRESPONDENCE. 

[London  Times,  May  29, 


A  NEW  FORM  OF   LITERARY   PIRACY. 

Mr.  Frederic  Harrison  has  forwarded  to  us  for  publication  the 
inclosed  letter,  which  he  has  addressed  to  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  : 

(562) 


Concerning  the  Suppressed  Book.  563 

"May  48,  1885. 

"  DEAR  MR.  SPENCER  :  I  cannot  admit  that  there  is  anything 
to  justify  you  in  being  a  party  to  the  American  reprint  of  articles  of 
mine,  without  my  knowledge  or  consent.  I  learn  accidentally  that  a 
volume  has  appeared  in  New  York,  which  consists  of  three  recent  ar- 
ticles of  yours  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,  printed  alternately  with 
three  recent  articles  of  mine,  with  an  introduction,  notes,  and  appen- 
dix. This  reissue  of  my  articles  was  made  without  the  knowledge 
of  myself,  or  of  the  proprietor  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,  and  he  tells 
me  that  it  is  a  case  of  piracy. 

"  You  now  avow  (in  your  letter  to  me  of  yesterday)  that  the  vol- 
ume was  issued  by  your  American  publishers,  and  was  edited  by 
your  friend  Prof.  Youmans,  after  consultation  with  you,  with  your 
consent  and  assistance.  You  also  avow  that  you  furnished  the 
editor  with  controversial  comments  on  my  articles,  and  requested 
him  to  append  them  in  his  own  way — that  is  to  say,  you  have 
abetted  a  clandestine  reprint  of  three  articles  of  mine,  interpo- 
lated with  notes  supplied  by  yourself.  I  regard  this  not  only  as 
an  act  of  literary  piracy,  but  as  a  new  and  most  unworthy  form  of 
literary  piracy.  May  I  ask  if  it  is  proposed  to  hand  you  the  profits  of 
a  book  of  which  I  am  (in  part)  the  author,  or  are  these  to  be  retained 
by  your  American  publishers  and  friend  ? 

"  To  justify  this  act  you  now  write  that  you  expected  republica- 
tion  in  America  by  my  friends.  This  expectation  rests,  I  can  assure 
you,  on  a  pure  invention.  No  friend  of  mine,  nor  any  person  what- 
ever in  America  or  in  England,  has  ever  suggested  to  me  the  repub- 
lication  of  my  articles,  nor  have  I  ever  heard  or  thought  of  such  a 
project.  You  quote  to  me,  as  your  authority,  a  letter  from  Prof. 
Youmans,  who  simply  says  there  is  danger  of  its  being  done  by 
others,  and  he  adds  that  I  am  coming  to  lecture  in  America.  Again, 
this  is  a  pure  invention.  I  have  never  thought  of  lecturing  in  Amer- 
ica, or  of  going  there,  nor  has  any  one  on  either  side  of  the  Atlantic 
suggested  to  me  to  do  so.  Those  who  '  convey  '  my  writings  will  as 
readily  invent  my  intentions.  Inquiry  would  have  shown  that  neither 
I  nor  my  friends  had  any  intention  of  reprinting  any  articles — much 
less  yours.  And  I  fail  to  see  how  an  unverified  report  that  they 
might  be  reprinted,  coupled  with  an  unverified  report  that  I  was  go- 
ing to  lecture  in  America,  could  justify  you  in  promoting  and  assist- 
ing in  the  unauthorized  issue  and  sale  of  writings  of  mine. 


564  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

"  This  is  not  a  simple  case  of  clandestine  reprint.  Those  of  us 
who  do  not  take  elaborate  precautions  are  exposed  to  have  what  they 
write  appearing  in  unauthorized  American  editions.  But  it  does 
surprise  me  that  an  English  writer  should  connive  at  this  treatment 
of  another  English  writer  with  whom  he  had  been  carrying  on  an 
honourable  discussion.  It  is,  I  think,  something  new,  even  in  Ameri- 
can piracy,  to  reissue  an  author's  writings  behind  his  back,  and  sell 
them  interlarded  with  hostile  comment.  Reprints,  even  while  they 
plunder  us,  spare  us  the  sight  of  our  sentences  broken  on  the  same 
page  with  such  amenities  as  'he  complacently  assumes,'  'loose  and 
misleading  statements/  etc.  You  avow,  in  your  letter  of  yesterday, 
that  you  supplied  these  comments  to  my  articles ;  and  if  internal 
evidence  did  not  show  them  to  be  yours,  by  your  offer  to  me  to  re- 
publish  them  now  in  England,  you  treat  them  as  yours.  I  know  no 
instance  of  such  a  practice.  It  is  as  if  I  were  piratically  to  reprint 
your  Data  of  Ethics,  freely  interspersed  with  a  running  commentary 
on  your  practice  of  ethics,  and  were  to  justify  my  act  on  the  ground 
that  I  had  had  a  controversy  with  you,  and  that  I  had  heard  your 
friends  were  about  to  reprint  it. 

"  There  is  one  minor  point  which  serves  to  show  the  kind  of  pub- 
lication in  which  you  have  chosen  to  take  part.  My  articles  in  this 
volume  are  followed  by  a  cutting  from  a  newspaper  account  of  what 
the  editor  calls  '  The  Little  Bethel  of  the  Comtists.'  As  the  volume 
bears  as  its  subtitle  the  words,  '  A  Controversy  between  Frederic 
Harrison  and  Herbert  Spencer,'  that  newspaper  paragraph  would 
only  be  relevant  if  it  referred  to  practices  in  which  I  had  some  part, 
or  which  I  approved.  It  is  well  known  that  I  have  nothing  to  do 
with  anything  of  the  kind,  and  never  countenanced  it.  Nothing  ol  the 
sort  has  ever  been  heard  in  Newton-hall,  where  for  years  past  I  have 
presented  Positivism  as  I  understand  it.  The  matter  is  a  small  bit  of 
polemical  mischief;  those  who  are  engaged  in  plunder  are  not  likely 
to  be  fair.  But  I  think  it  is  quite  unworthy  of  a  place  in  a  volume  for 
which  you  are  responsible,  and  which  you  have  authorized  and  adopt. 

"  You  now  propose  to  me  to  republish  this  volume  in  England, 
where  you  admit  it  could  not  appear  without  the  consent  of  all  con- 
cerned. After  what  you  have  done  I  must  decline  to  act  with  you. 
I  leave  your  conduct  to  the  judgment  of  men  of  sense  and  of  honour. 

"  I  am  faithfully  yours, 
"  MR.  HERBERT  SPENCER.  FREDERIC  HARRISON." 


Concerning  the  Suppressed  Book.  565 

[  Times,  Jtme  sst.~\ 
MR.   FREDERIC   HARRISON'S   CHARGE. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Times. 

SIR  :  Will  you  oblige  me  by  publishing  the  following  letter,  which 
is  a  copy  of  one  to  Mr.  Harrison,  referred  to  by  him  in  his  letter  con- 
tained in  The  Times  of  Friday  : 

QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  W.,  May  27,  1885. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  Here  are  my  replies  to  the  questions  put  in  your 
note  of  yesterday. 

"  Just  before  the  middle  of  January  I  received  from  my  American 
friend,  Prof.  Youmans,  a  letter  dated  January  2,  containing,  among 
others,  the  following  paragraphs  : 

"  '  And  now  we  have  something  of  a  new  embarrassment  upon 
which  I  must  consult  you.  There  is  a  pretty  sharp  demand  for  the 
publication  of  your  controversy  with  Harrison  in  a  separate  form, 
and  the  publishers  favour  it.  The  question  is  not  simply  whether 
it  is  desirable,  for  we  cannot  control  it.  There  is  danger  that  it  will 
be  done  by  others,  and  if  that  should  occur  it  would  be  construed  as 
a  triumph  of  the  Harrison  party — the  Spencerians  having  declined  to 
go  into  it. 

"  •  If  I  thought  no  one  else  would  print  the  correspondence  (i.  e., 
the  Nineteenth  Century  articles),  I  should  be  in  favour  of  our  not  do- 
ing it.  In  the  first  place,  for  general  effect,  rhetoric  against  reason 
counts  as  about  ten  to  one.  The  Comtists  are  reviving — Harrison  is 
coming  over  to  lecture  in  this  country,  and  much  will  be  made  of  his 
brilliant  conduct  of  the  controversy.  In  the  next  place,  he  has  this 
advantage  of  you :  your  main  work  bearing  upon  the  issue  is  to  be 
sought  elsewhere,  while  Harrison  had  accumulated  all  the  materials 
of  his  assault  and  gives  his  whole  case,  so  that  the  popular  effect 
could  not  fail  to  be  much  in  his  favour.  To  the  narrower  circle  of 
readers  who  can  really  appreciate  the  discussion,  the  republication 
would  undoubtedly  be  an  excellent  thing,  and  I  suppose,  after  all,  it  is 
only  these  that  we  should  much  care  for.  On  the  whole  it  may  be 
politic  to  reprint.  What  do  you  think  about  it  ?  ' 

"  There  was  thus  raised  a  quite  unexpected  problem.  I  had  sup- 
posed that  the  matter  had  ended  with  your  letter  to  the  Pall  Mall 
Gazette  ;  and  having  expressed  (in  the  Nineteenth  Century)  my  in- 


566  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

tention  not  to  continue  the  controversy,  I  hoped  it  would  drop. 
Here,  however,  came  the  prospect  of  a  revival  in  another  shape  ;  and 
I  had  to  choose  between  republication  by  my  American  friends  or 
republication  by  your  friends,  with  the  implication  that  I  was  averse 
to  it.  Though  I  should  have  preferred  passivity,  yet,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances stated,  I  thought  it  best  to  assent  to  republication.  One 
objection,  however,  became  manifest.  While  in  my  replies  to  you  I 
had  pointed  out  sundry  of  your  many  misrepresentations,  I  passed 
over  others — one  reason  being  that  I  could  not  trespass  too  much  on 
the  space  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  and  the  attention  of  its  readers. 
Now,  however,  when  it  was  proposed  that  the  statements  contained 
in  your  articles  should  be  rediffused,  and  take  a  permanent  form  in- 
stead of  a  temporary  form,  I  felt  that  I  could  not  leave  unnoticed 
these  other  misrepresentations.  Appearing  in  a  volume  issued  by 
my  American  publishers,  and  edited  by  my  American  friend,  the 
implication  would  have  been  that  statements  made  by  you  to 
which  no  objection  was  raised  were  correct  statements.  If  words 
in  quotation  marks  tacitly  ascribed  by  you  to  me  had  not  been 
disowned  by  me  (p.  112),  it  would,  of  course,  have  been  assumed 
that  I  had  used  them,  and  that  I  stood  convicted  of  the  absurdity 
which  you  allege  on  the  assumption  that  I  had  used  them.  If  it 
had  not  been  shown  that  an  opinion  you  debit  me  with  (p.  129)  is 
wholly  at  variance  with  opinions  which  I  have  expressed  in  three 
different  places,  it  would  naturally  have  been  concluded  that  I  held 
the  opinion.  Hence  it  was  clear  that  unless  I  was  to  authorize 
the  stereotyping  of  these  and  other  errors  I  must  take  measures 
to  dissipate  them.  I  therefore  pointed  out  to  Prof.  Youmans  the 
statements  which  required  notice,  indicated  the  needful  rectifica- 
tions, and  requested  him  to  append  these  rectifications  in  his  own 
way.  At  the  same  time  I  forwarded  him  a  copy  of  the  letter  which 
you  published  in  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  saying  that  '  if  this  reprint 
of  the  articles  is  published  without  this  letter,  he  (you)  will  inevitably 
say  that  his  final  reply  has  been  omitted.  It  is  needful,  therefore, 
that  it  should  be  included.'  And  along  with  your  letter  I  sent  indi- 
cations of  the  points  in  it  which  should  be  noticed. 

"  Do  you  think  I  was  not  justified  in  this  course  ?  Do  you  think 
I  ought  to  have  withheld  my  consent  to  the  republication  by  my 
friends,  leaving  your  friends  to  republish  ?  Do  you  think  that,  having 
assented  to  jepublication,  I  ought  to  have  let  pass  without  correction 


Concerning  the  Suppressed  Book.  567 

your  misstatements  previously  uncorrected  ?  If  you  think  either  of 
these  things,  I  imagine  that  few  will  agree  with  you.  There  is,  how- 
ever, an  easy  way  of  bringing  the  question  to  issue.  All  the  articles 
are  copyright  in  England,  and  cannot  be  republished  here  without 
the  consent  of  all  concerned.  I  do  not  suppose  that  Mr.  Knowles 
will  raise  any  difficulty;  and  if  you  agree  to  the  reissue  of  them 
here,  I  am  quite  willing  that  they  should  be  reissued.  If  you  think 
that  anything  said  in  refutation  of  your  statements  should  not  have 
been  said,  we  can  easily  include  an  appendix  in  which  you  can  point 
out  this  ;  and  then,  if  you  wish  it,  copies  of  the  volume  can  be  sent 
round  to  the  press. 

"  Of  course  I  preserve  a  copy  of  this  letter  with  a  view  to  possible 
future  use.  Faithfully  yours, 

"  HERBERT  SPENCER. 

"  FREDERIC  HARRISON,  Esq." 

I  will  add  but  two  comments.  Mr.  Harrison  had  this  letter  be- 
fore him  when  he  wrote  his  statement.  Does  the  reader  find  that 
his  statement  produced  an  impression  anything  like  that  which  my 
letter  produces  ?  The  other  comment  is  this.  Asking  whether  I 
have  any  share  in  the  profits,  Mr.  Harrison  not  only  by  this,  but  by 
his  title,  "  A  New  Form  of  Literary  Piracy,"  tacitly  suggests  that 
I  have.  Merely  stating  that  the  affair  is  purely  the  affair  of  the 
Messrs.  Appleton,  and  that  not  even  a  thought  about  money  ever 
entered  my  head  concerning  it,  I  draw  attention  to  the  readiness 
with  which  Mr.  Harrison,  without  a  particle  of  evidence,  makes  grave 
insinuations.  And  I  do  this  because  it  will  enable  the  reader  to  judge 
what  need  there  probably  was  for  taking  the  measures  I  did  to  pre- 
vent the  wider  and  more  permanent  diffusion  of  Mr.  Harrison's  mis- 
representations. 

Concerning  the  newspaper  extract  describing  a  Comtist  service  I 
know  nothing,  and  greatly  regret  that  it  was  appended.  I  will  at 
once  ask  to  have  it  withdrawn.  If  three  gentlemen,  appointed  in 
the  usual  way,  decide  that  under  the  circumstances,  as  stated  to 
me  by  Prof.  Youmans,  I  was  not  justified  in  the  course  I  took,  I 
will,  if  Mr.  Harrison  wishes  it,  request  Messrs.  Appleton  to  suppress 
the  book  and  destroy  the  stereotype  plates,  and  I  will  make  good 
their  loss  to  them.  I  am,  faithfully  yours, 

HERBERT  SPENCER. 

May  29. 


568  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

[  Times ;  June  2d.~\ 
MR.   SPENCER   AND   MR.   HARRISON. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Times. 

SIR  :  I  will  not  pursue  this  matter  further,  nor  will  I  insist  on  Mr. 
Spencer's  fair  offer  to  submit  it  to  arbitration.  It  satisfies  me  if  he 
will  not  claim  any  absolute  and  moral  right  to  copyright  in  America 
my  writings  with  rectifications  of  his  own.  I  am  accustomed  to  un- 
authorized reprints  of  what  I  write  ;  and  as  I  hear  there  is  a  brisk 
sale  for  these  essays  (quorum  pars  minima  fui)  I  will  only  con- 
gratulate the  Yankee  editor  on  his  'cuteness.  As  Mr.  Spencer,  by 
his  offer,  now  admits  it  to  be  possible  that  he  made  a  mistake,  I  am 
ready  to  regard  his  share  of  it  as  an  inadvertence.  I  know  too  well 
his  great  generosity  in  money  matters  to  suppose  that  any  question 
of  profit  crossed  his  mind.  But  it  certainly  crossed  some  one's  mind  ; 
and  I  referred  to  it  only  to  convince  him  that  eager  partisans  had  led 
him  into  a  mistake.  It  is  not  easy  at  any  time  to  get  him  to  see  this, 
and  to  open  his  eyes  I  used  for  once  plain  words.  Conscious  that 
I  had  conducted  a  philosophical  debate  with  an  old  friend  with  all 
the  deference  and  admiration  that  I  really  feel  for  his  genius,  it  did 
pain  me  to  find  myself  treated  as  the  proverbial  dog  whom  any  stick 
is  good  enough  to  beat.  The  only  arbitration  I  now  desire  is  that  of 
some  common  friend  who  may  convince  him  that  I  wish  nothing 
more  than  a  return  to  the  position  of  philosophic  friends  who  agree 
to  differ  about  their  respective  systems. 

I  am,  &c., 

FREDERIC  HARRISON. 

June  i. 

[  Times,  June  jv/.] 
MR.   SPENCER   AND   MR.   HARRISON. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Times. 

SIR  :  Rather  than  have  any  further  question  with   Mr.  Harrison, 
and  rather  than  have  it  supposed  that   I  intentionally  ignored  his 
copyright  claim,  I  have  telegraphed  to  Messrs.  Appleton  to  stop  the 
sale,  destroy  the  stock  and  plates,  and  debit  me  with  their  loss. 
I  am,  faithfully  yours, 

HERBERT  SPENCER. 
CLOVELLY,  June  2. 


Concerning  the  Suppressed  Book.  569 

[  Times,  June  /j.th^\ 
MR.   SPENCER  AND   MR.    HARRISON. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Times. 

SIR  :  Allow  me  to  supplement  my  letter  telegraphed  yesterday, 
partly  to  explain  how  the  thing  arose,  and  partly  to  correct  an  im- 
pression made  by  your  leader  of  to-day.  I  was  wrong  in  assenting 
to  the  republication  by  Messrs.  Appleton.  I  ought  to  have  borne 
passively  the  threatened  evils  of  republication  by  other  publishers, 
and,  as  my  friend  has  been  connected  with  publishing  in  New  York 
for  thirty  years,  I  supposed  his  impression  that  these  were  coming 
was  correct.  But  my  decision  was  made  in  a  hurry,  without  due 
thought.  Believing  there  was  no  time  to  lose,  I  telegraphed  reply, 
and  by  the  next  post  indicated  corrections  to  be  made  in  the  state- 
ments of  my  views.  And  here  I  wish  to  point  out  that  the  notes  I 
indicated  were  not  criticism  of  Mr.  Harrison's  opinions,  but  corrected 
versions  of  my  own.  Any  others,  if  there  are  any,  are  Prof.  You- 
mans's.  I  go  on  to  explain  that  my  mind  was  so  engrossed  with  the 
due  presentation  of  the  controversy  that  the  question  of  copyright 
never  occurred  to  me ;  and  the  thought  that  Mr.  Harrison  might  not 
like  his  articles  republished  was  excluded  by  the  impression  given- 
me  that  others  would  republish  them  if  the  Appletons  did  not. 
Hence  my  error.  But  my  error  does  not,  I  think,  excuse  Mr.  Harri- 
son's insult.  By  cancelling  the  rest  of  the  edition  and  the  plates  I 
have  done  all  that  remains  possible  to  rectify  the  effects  of  my  mis- 
take. I  am,  faithfully  yours, 

HERBERT  SPENCER. 
ILFRACOMBE,  June  3. 

[  Times,  June  6th .] 
MR.   HARRISON   AND   MR.   SPENCER. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Times. 

SIR  :  May  I  once  more  trespass  on  your  space  by  asking  you  to 
publish  the  following  letter  from  Mr.  Harrison  ? 

I  am,  faithfully  yours,  HERBERT  SPENCER. 

"38  WESTBOURNE  TERRACE,  W.,  June  4,  1885. 

"DEAR  MR.  SPENCER  :  As.you  still  appear  to  think  (in  spite  of 
my  public  disclaimer)  that  I  have  brought  against  you  a  charge  of 
25 


570  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

desiring  money  profit  out  of  this  American  reprint,  I  beg  to  say  that 
I  did  not  intend  to  make  any  such  charge,  and  I  do  not  believe  that 
I  have.  I  regret  the  use  of  any  words  which  produced  that  impres- 
sion on  you.  I  am,  yours  faithfully, 

"FREDERIC  HARRISON. 

"  P.  S.  —  You  can  use  this  letter  as  you  think  fit. 
"  HERBERT  SPENCER,  Esq." 


[Standard,  June 
MR.    SPENCER    AND    MR.    HARRISON. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Standard. 

SIR:  The  fact  that  the  information  to  which  it  refers  came 
through  The  Standard  must  be  my  excuse  for  asking  you  to  publish 
the  following  letter,  a  copy  of  which  I  have  inclosed  to  Mr.  Harrison, 
requesting  him  to  post  it  after  reading  it. 

I  am,  Sir,  your  obedient  servant,  HERBERT  SPENCER. 

"38  QUEEN'S  GARDENS,  BAYSWATER,  LONDON,  W.,  Juneq. 

"  MY  DEAR  YOUMANS  :  I  returned  home  last  night,  and  only 
this  morning  learned  that  in  The  Standard  of  Saturday  last  there  was, 
in  a  telegram  from  New  York,  a  statement  to  the  effect  that  Messrs. 
Appleton  decline  to  destroy  the  stock  and  plates  of  the  reprinted  con- 
troversy (as  I  had  telegraphed  them  to  do),  on  the  score  that 
the  book  would  be  reprinted  by  some  other  publisher.  In  this  ex- 
pectation they  are  probably  right.  But  a  reprint  would  necessarily 
be  without  the  notes  ;  since  these,  as  implied  in  your  preface,  are 
your  copyright  in  America.  Now,  though  these  notes  —  or,  at 
least  those  which  I  pointed  out  as  needful  —  are  corrections  of  erro- 
neous statements  of  my  views,  yet,  rather  than  have  it  supposed  that  I 
wished  to  take  any  advantage  of  Mr.  Harrison  in  making  such  cor- 
rections, I  will  submit  to  the  evil  of  reissue  by  another  publisher 
without  them  ;  and  I  therefore  repeat  the  request  that  the  stock  and 
stereoplates  may  be  destroyed,  and  the  loss  debited  to  me. 

"  One  word  respecting  the  proposal  of  the  Appletons  to  share  the 
author's  profits  between  Mr.  Harrison  and  myself.  If  any  have  at 
present  accrued,  or  if,  in  consequence  of  refusal  to  do  as  I  have 
above  requested,  any  should  hereafter  accrue,  then  I  wish  to  say 


Concerning  the  Suppressed  Book.  571 

that  having  been,  and  being  now,  absolutely  indifferent  to  profit  in 
the  matter,  I  shall  decline  to  accept  any  portion  of  the  returns. 
"  Ever  sincerely  yours, 

"HERBERT  SPENCER." 


Several  points  in  this  correspondence,  especially  in  its 
opening  letter,  require  some  notice  in  this  place ;  but,  before 
making  the  critical  corrections  that  seem  to  be  required,  I 
desire  to  say  a  few  words  on  the  peculiar  circumstances  of 
American  publication  which  have  an  important  bearing 
on  the  present  case. 

Mr.  Frederic  Harrison  took  offence  at  the  American  re- 
print in  a  book  of  some  review  articles  of  his,  and  pro- 
nounces it  "  a  case  of  piracy."  The  organs  of  English 
opinion,  in  commenting  upon  these  letters,  take  the  same 
view.  The  London  Times,  after  referring  to  the  grace- 
ful and  honourable  termination  of  the  disagreeable  dif- 
ference between  Mr.  Harrison  and  Mr.  Spencer,  devotes 
a  leading  editorial  to  the  discussion  of  American  piracy 
on  the  basis  of  the  fresh  and  striking  illustration  of  it 
here  afforded.  Speaking  of  the  effect  of  the  "tolerably 
rigid  copyright  law  "  of  England,  the  Times  says  :  "  But  so 
far  as  America  is  concerned  it  is  different.  To  the  English 
author  that  country  seems  to  answer  very  much  to  Hobbes's 
idea  of  a  state  of  nature.  Foreign  aulhors  are  fair  prey ; 
for  them  there  is  or  need  be  no  selling  or  buying  of  copy- 
rights, and  a  good  book  is  to  be  dealt  with  as  a  part  of  the 
common  elements  of  Nature.  If  any  laws  govern  the  mat- 
ter, it  is  only  those  which  regulate  the  capture  and  reduc- 
tion into  possession  of  wild  animals."  The  case  is  cer- 
tainly bad  enough,  but  this  is  an  exaggeration. 

At  the  outset  I  admit  that  on  the  question  of  interna- 
tional copyright,  or  the  claims  of  foreign  authors  to  prop- 
erty in  their  books,  the  English  are  right  and  the  Ameri- 
cans wrong — so  flagrantly  wrong  as  to  justify  much  of  the 


572  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

denunciation  we  receive.  The  position  of  our  Government 
upon  the  subject  I  regard  as  wholly  indefensible.  Its 
policy  is  an  outrage  upon  a  class  of  men  who  are  public 
benefactors,  a  disgrace  to  the  country,  and  a  scandal  to 
civilization.  Grover  Cleveland's  republic  does  not  recog- 
nize that  Frederic  Harrison  and  Herbert  Spencer  have  any 
right  of  property  in  the  products  of  their  brainwork.  Their 
productions  when  brought  to  the  United  States  belong 
neither  to  them  nor  to  anybody  else.  They  are  not  pro- 
tected by  law,  and  may  be  appropriated  by  anybody  with- 
out violation  of  law.  There  are  many  in  this  country  who 
realize  the  vice  of  this  policy  quite  as  vividly  as  the  for- 
eign victims  of  it  and  who  are  labouring  hard  to  put  an  end 
to  it.  But,  without  offering  a  word  of  apology  for  it,  there  is 
still  something  to  be  said  in  behalf  of  those  who  are  com- 
pelled to  act  under  a  bad  state  of  things  which  they  reprobate 
but  are  for  the  time  powerless  to  remedy.  It  is  certainly 
unjust  to  involve  these  in  the  indiscriminate  condemnation 
of  the  vicious  system.  It  is  a  good  deal  easier  to  denounce 
it  at  a  distance  than  to  fight  it  on  the  spot.  Nor  is  it  pos- 
sible for  authors,  living  under  a  government  which  so 
stringently  protects  them  that  they  acquire  the  habit  of  re- 
garding literary  property  as  something  peculiarly  sacred, 
to  fully  appreciate  the  difficulties  of  publication  and  the 
course  which  business  must  take  under  entirely  opposite 
circumstances,  where  literary  property  is  without  any  legal 
protection.  With  no  international  copyright  it  is  certainly 
impossible  to  act  as  if  we  had  one.  That  the  Government 
does  not  protect  him,  and  that  if  protected  at  all  it  must  be 
done  by  himself,  is  the  first  and  vital  fact  that  has  to  be 
taken  into  account  when  any  publisher  makes  the  venture 
of  reissuing  a  foreign  book  in  this  country.  The  Govern- 
ment is,  in  fact,  his  enemy,  and  virtually  calls  upon  every- 
body to  make  war  upon  him.  However  disposed  he  may 
be  to  treat  a  foreign  author  well,  to  bring  out  his  work  in 


Concerning  the  Suppressed  Book.  573 

respectable  shape,  and  pay  him  for  it  fairly,  he  meets  this 
ugly  circumstance  at  the  threshold  of  the  transaction,  that 
the  money  he  puts  into  it  may  be  sunk  because  anybody 
can  reprint  the  work  in  cheaper  form  and  without  paying 
the  author  anything.  Nor  is  this  all ;  the  more  honourable 
he  is,  the  worse  it  is  for  him.  Any  sense  of  liberality  he 
may  indulge  works  directly  against  him.  If  he  publishes 
the  book  in  good  form,  pays  a  decent  royalty,  and  makes 
it  properly  known  by  advertising,  all  this  is  a  temptation 
to  other  parties  to  take  advantage  of  his  outlay,  and  the 
reputation  the  book  acquires  by  means  of  it,  to  fill  the 
market  with  mean  editions  that  kill  the  honest  publication. 
The  American  publisher  is  therefore  compelled  to  adopt  a 
policy  very  different  from  that  in  England,  where  books 
are  vigilantly  and  effectively  protected  by  law.  He  has  to 
conform  to  the  necessities  of  a  lawless  state  of  things,  and 
must  be  left  to  make  the  best  he  can  of  it. 

But  the  indiscriminate  charges  of  the  London  Times  are 
not  true;  all  American  publishers  are  not  freebooters  and 
pirates.  Although  it  is  not  possible  for  them  to  treat  for- 
eign authors  with  full  justice  in  the  absence  of  international 
copyright,  yet  it  is  false  that  these  authors  are  preyed  upon 
in  the  unqualified  way  asserted  by  the  Times.  There  are, 
of  course,  American  publishers,  and  plenty  of  them,  who 
are  thoroughly  unscrupulous;  but  there  are  others,  and 
they  are  not  a  few,  who  do  the  best  they  can  under  the 
present  demoralizing  system  to  compensate  foreign  authors 
for  their  work.  They  pay  them  by  voluntary  arrangement, 
not  the  rates  that  they  are  accustomed  to  at  home,  and  not 
always  perhaps  as  much  as  they  might,  but  often,  as  I  hap- 
pen to  know,  to  their  own  loss,  when  books  are  reprinted 
by  others  and  the  market  supplied  by  degraded  editions  on 
which  the  author  receives  nothing.  In  the  absence  of  an 
international  copyright  law,  this  voluntary  action  of  Ameri- 
can publishers  is  the  only  thing  practicable  or  possible  to 


574  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

mitigate  the  barbarism  of  the  situation.  Imperfect  as  it 
may  be,  it  is  an  honest  procedure  in  behalf  of  the  foreign 
author;  and  it  is  now  practised  to  an  extent  that  should 
materially  qualify  those  wholesale  charges  of  piracy.  The 
present  case  is  to  be  regarded  in  the  light  of  these  consid- 
erations ;  and  I  think  it  will  be  found  that  the  lesson  to  be 
drawn  from  it  is  quite  different  from  that  which  has  been 
drawn  by  the  English  press. 

So  far  as  the  above  correspondence  is  concerned,  the 
motives  that  impelled  me  to  take  the  share  I  had  in  bring- 
ing out  the  suppressed  book  are  to  be  gathered  only 
from  a  scrap  in  a  hurried  private  letter  to  Mr.  Spencer; 
but,  as  my  act  is  now  branded  as  piratical,  I  must  be  ex- 
cused for  stating  more  fully  the  reasons  by  which  I  was 
actually  influenced  in  the  course  taken. 

Mr.  Harrison  had  an  important  controversy  with  Her- 
bert Spencer  on  a  grave  subject,  which  was  published  in 
the  Nineteenth  Century.  In  printing  their  papers  I  have 
the  right  to  assume  their  purpose  to  be  that  they  should 
be  read  as  widely  as  possible.  There  was  much  interest 
in  this  country  to  follow  this  discussion,  and  we  accord- 
ingly printed  the  articles  in  The  Popular  Science  Monthly. 

But,  when  the  controversy  was  finished,  there  was  a  call 
for  its  republication  in  a  separate  form,  more  convenient, 
accessible,  and  cheaper  than  in  the  pages  of  a  magazine. 
The  demand  was  reasonable,  and  I  was  anxious  to  comply 
with  it,  that  the  discussion  might  be  disseminated  as  widely 
as  possible.  I,  moreover,  desired  the  republication  for  the 
same  reason  that  I  had  urged  Mr.  Spencer  to  go  on  with  the 
controversy  with  Mr.  Harrison.  Although  knowing  the 
low  state  of  his  working  power,  and  how  important  it  was 
that  he  should  not  be  interrupted  by  such  side  issues  in 
the  prosecution  of  the  great  philosophical  work  upon  which 
he  has  been  engaged  for  many  years,  it  seemed  to  me  of 


Concerning  the  Suppressed  Book. 

greater  importance  that  he  should  seize  the  opportunity 
offered  by  Mr.  Harrison's  attack  to  develop  more  fully  his 
fundamental  religious  opinions.  He  had  published  but 
little  upon  that  subject  for  a  long  time,  his  views  had  been 
much  controverted  and  much  misunderstood,  and  I  knew 
there  was  a  strong  desire  on  the  part  of  many  to  read 
everything  he  might  say  in  further  interpretation  and  elu- 
cidation of  them.  His  distinctive  doctrines  were  now  vig- 
orously and  formally  attacked  by  a  sagacious  adversary, 
long  prepared  by  his  special  studies  to  put  them  to  the 
severest  test.  For  the  same  reason  that  I  encouraged  Mr. 
Spencer  to  give  time  to  the  discussion,  I  desired  that  his 
readers  in  this  country  should  be  put  in  ready  possession 
of  it  when  done.  I  may  add  that  in  this  I  was  impelled  by 
the  same  general  motives  that  had  prompted  me  for  many 
years  to  do  what  I  could  to  bring  Mr.  Spencer's  ideas  be- 
fore the  American  people. 

But  there  were  special  reasons  which  made  me  wish 
that  the  publication  should  be  issued  by  D.  Appleton  & 
Co.  This  house  had  printed  all  of  Spencer's  works;  and 
as  a  present  statement  of  his  religious  views  would  be  an 
important  addition  to  them,  and  would  naturally  be  called 
for  in  connection  with  them,  it  seemed  important  that  his 
controversy  with  Harrison  should  be  brought  out  in  a  rep- 
utable and  permanent  shape  to  take  its  place  with  his  other 
books.  Besides,  there  was  a  high  degree  of  certainty  that 
the  discussion  would  be  published  by  somebody.  The 
names  of  the  eminent  contestants,  and  the  interest  felt  by 
a  large  number  of  people  in  the  subject,  were  evinced  by  a 
strong  demand  for  the  publication.  The  discussion  in  its 
separate  form  was  called  for  by  the  friends  of  Mr.  Harrison 
and  by  the  friends  of  Mr.  Spencer,  and  by  others  who  were 
friends  of  neither.  It  was  open  to  anybody  to  print  it,  and 
there  was  every  probability  that  it  would  be  picked  up 
and  issued  in  a  cheap,  catchpenny  edition,  which  is  now  so 


576  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

common  with  publications  of  every  kind.  I  desired,  there- 
fore, that  the  Appletons  should  bring  it  out  in  a  respectable 
shape  and  at  a  moderate  price,  that  the  book  might  be  had 
at  any  time  in  a  form  suitable  for  preservation. 

I  protest  that  these  considerations  were  not  vitiated  by 
any  covetous  desire  or  purpose  whatever.  Mr.  Harrison 
says  it  is  a  case  of  "  piracy  "  ;  but,  so  far  as  this  involves 
the  taking  of  his  property  without  compensation,  there  was 
no  thought  of  it.  In  his  opening  letter  he  virtually  accused 
Mr.  Spencer  of  collusion  in  the  piracy  of  his  articles,  from 
a  sordid  intention.  Judged  by  this  extraordinary  letter, 
Mr.  Harrison's  religion  of  humanity  consists  chiefly  in  im- 
puting vile  motives  to  his  fellow-men.  He  said,  "  May  I 
ask  if  it  is  proposed  to  hand  you  the  profits  of  a  book  of 
which  I  am  (in  part)  the  author,  or  are  these  to  be  retained 
by  your  American  publishers  and  friend?"  Evidently  the 
pecuniary  consideration  was  uppermost  in  his  own  mind. 
But  he  had  here  gone  too  far.  Everybody  recognized  the 
outrage.  The  reader  will  note  the  striking  difference  in 
tone,  amounting  to  a  collapse,  between  his  first  and  his 
second  letters.  He  withdrew  the  offensive  insinuation  so 
far  as  Mr.  Spencer  was  concerned,  saying,  "  I  know  too 
well  his  great  generosity  in  money  matters  to  suppose  that 
any  question  of  profit  crossed  his  mind."  But  he  knew  this 
no  better  when  he  wrote  his  second  letter  than  when  he 
wrote  the  first.  He  sent  Mr.  Spencer  a  private  note  asking 
explanations  about  the  book,  and  this  Mr.  Spencer  an- 
swered, but  said  nothing  respecting  the  copyright ;  this 
did  not  enter  his  mind,  probably  for  the  reason  that  the 
house  which  issued  it  had  published  his  books  for  twenty- 
five  years,  paying  him  regularly  on  all  of  them  from  the 
first,  and  he  had  no  care  about  it,  knowing  that  the  equita- 
ble thing  would  of  course  be  done  to  all  concerned.  But 
the  inadvertence  gave  Harrison  his  opportunity. 

But  while  Mr.  Harrison  exonerates  Mr.  Spencer  from 


Concerning  the  Suppressed  Book.  577 

all  thought  of  making  profit  out  of  him,  he  adds,  "  But  it 
certainly  crossed  some  one's  mind,"  referring,  of  course,  to 
Mr.  Spencer's  "  American  publishers  and  friend."  Yet 
there  was  not  the  slightest  wish  or  design  on  the  part  of 
the  publishers  of  the  book  to  withhold  from  Mr.  Harrison 
his  proper  share  in  its  copyright  proceeds.  They  have 
published  the  scientific  and  philosophical  works  of  many 
English  authors,  on  which  they  have  paid  the  customary 
compensation  allowed  to  American  authors,  and  if  Mr.  Har- 
rison doubts  it  he  can  satisfy  himself  by  inquiring  of  his 
neighbours,  Tyndall,  Lecky,  Huxley,  Bain,  Sully,  or  the 
Darwins,  and  there  is  surely  no  reason  why  they  should  not 
have  compensated  Mr.  Harrison  in  the  same  way ;  and  this 
was  certainly  their  intention. 

But  perhaps  the  party  who  desired  to  plunder  Mr. 
Harrison  (he  uses  the  significant  word  twice  in  his  first  let- 
ter) was  Mr.  Spencer's  American  friend,  and  that  he  sup- 
posed this  "friend"  capable  of  sharp  practice  is  inferable 
from  his  remark,  "  I  will  only  congratulate  the  Yankee  edi- 
tor on  his  'cuteness."  Yet  the  'cute  Yankee  editor  in  this 
case  was  the  only  party  to  get  nothing.  Among  the  sev- 
eral stools  occupied  by  authors  and  publishers,  it  was  his 
fate  to  sit  on  the  ground.  Neither  by  stipulation  nor  ex- 
pectation was  he  to  have  a  cent  for  his  labour  in  editing  the 
volume,  or  his  efforts  in  promoting  its  circulation.  The 
reasons  which  actuated  him  have  been  already  stated.  But 
as  the  question  is  here  raised  of  venal  motives  in  the  treat- 
ment of  foreign  authors,  and  as  this  transaction  has  been 
extensively  paraded  as  a  flagitious  example  of  American 
piracy,  the  editor  of  the  suppressed  book  is  entitled  to  say 
that  he  has  done  his  full  share  in  a  practical  way  toward 
promoting  international  equity  in  the  payment  of  authors 
for  their  books.  He  gave  nearly  a  year's  labour  to  the  or- 
ganization of  the  International  Scientific  Series  for  the 
avowed  purpose  of  securing  more  satisfactory  compensa- 


578  Edward  Livingston   Youmans. 

tion  to  scientific  writers.  The  project  was  based  upon  the 
condition  of  the  payment  of  copyright  to  each  of  the  con- 
tributors from  all  the  countries  in  which  the  books  were 
issued.  Nothing  of  the  kind  had  ever  been  done  or  at- 
tempted before  ;  and,  in  regard  to  its  result,  Dr.  John  W. 
Draper  remarked,  "  Although  there  are  international 
copyright  regulations  in  Europe,  and  my  various  works 
have  been  translated  into  many  foreign  languages,  I  have 
never  received  anything  from  them  except  upon  the  vol- 
ume I  wrote  for  the  International  Series,  and  on  that  I  have 
been  paid  regularly  by  the  English,  French,  German,  and 
Italian,  as  well  as  by  the  American  publishers."  Fifty  vol- 
umes have  now  appeared  in  that  series,  and  the  American 
publishers  have  voluntarily  paid  all  the  foreign  contribu- 
tors the  same  as  if  they  had  been  citizens  of  the  United 
States.  And  this  they  have  done  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
this  honourable  arrangement  has  been  disregarded,  and 
various  of  the  volumes  have  been  reprinted  in  shabby 
twenty-cent  editions,  on  which,  of  course,  the  authors  have 
received  nothing. 

This,  then,  is  the  way  in  which  Mr.  Harrison  has  been 
outraged.  He  had  his  articles  brought  out  in  good  shape 
for  such  of  his  friends  as  desired  to  possess  them  in  a  sepa- 
rate form.  He  has  been  "  plundered  "  by  being  protected 
against  plunder  on  the  part  of  those  who  might  have  issued 
a  trivial  and  fugitive  edition  of  his  controversy,  and  allowed 
him  nothing  for  it.  He  has  been  "  pirated "  by  having 
voluntarily  secured  for  him  the  substantial  benefits  of  an 
international  copyright  law. 

But  Mr.  Harrison's  articles  were  used  without  his  con- 
sent, and  that  is  what  the  charge  of  "  piracy  "  here  amounts 
to.  His  consent  was  not  asked  because  it  would  have  im- 
plied control  of  that  over  which  he  had  no  control.  If  he 
had  refused,  that  would  not  have  stopped  the  publication, 
but  would  have  simply  defeated  the  purposes  of  those  who 


Concerning  tJie  Suppressed  Book.  579 

knew  better  than  Mr.  Harrison  did  what  required  to  be 
done.  He  was  not  consulted  for  the  simple  reason,  now 
obvious  enough,  that  he  would  be  unlikely  to  make  allow- 
ance for  a  state  of  things  utterly  different  from  that  to 
which  he  has  been  accustomed.  He  was  not  asked,  because, 
while  his  assent  would  have  done  no  good,  his  dissent 
would  have  done  injury  to  himself,  to  Mr.  Spencer,  and  to 
the  public.  And  that  Mr.  Harrison  would  have  withheld 
his  consent  is  far  from  improbable.  That  the  book  was 
wanted  here  by  many  readers  was  nothing  to  him,  as  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that,  when  a  word  would  have  saved  it 
from  destruction,  he  declined  to  utter  it.  Something  is  of 
course  due  to  courtesy,  but  I  was  not  at  all  certain  that 
courtesy  would  be  met  in  the  same  spirit.  The  feeling  of 
high-toned  British  authors  toward  American  "  pirates  "  is 
not  usually  vented  in  gracious  expression.  American  ex- 
perience with  such  authors  is  apt  to  engender  diffidence  in 
approaching  them.  Those  gentlemanly  and  honourable 
publishers,  the  Messrs.  Putnam,  having  special  reasons  re- 
cently to  make  overtures  to  Mr.  Ruskin  for  the  use  of  one  of 
his  articles  (to  be  paid  for,  of  course),  were  deterred  from 
doing  so  because  that  author  "  absolutely  declined  to  come 
into  any  relation  with  an  American  publisher."  Mr.  Har- 
rison is  understood  to  be  a  particular  and  punctilious 
man,  and  that  he  can,  upon  occasion,  pretermit  the  re- 
quirements of  amiable  civility,  and  take  to  "  plain  words," 
is  amply  attested  by  his  letter  of  May  29th  to  Herbert 
Spencer. 

But,  in  the  matter  of  "  piracy,"  it  is  Mr.  Spencer  who 
comes  in  for  Harrison's  hottest  indignation.  He  accuses 
him  of  having  invented  a  new  form  of  it,  and  aggravated 
the  offence  by  its  clandestine  perpetration.  Now,  let  us  see 
what  it  was  that  Spencer  did.  After  finishing  the  controversy 
in  the  Nineteenth  Century,  Mr.  Harrison  transferred  it  to 
the  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  in  which  he  printed  an  additional 


580  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

article,  addressed  to  a  new  audience,  and  filled  with  very  ob- 
jectionable misstatements.  It  would  not  do,  in  editing  the 
volume  which  was  intended  to  be  a  full  presentation  of  the 
discussion,  to  leave  this  article  out.  But  to  print  it  with- 
out corrections  would  be  unjust  to  Spencer,  and  to  the 
readers  of  the  book,  who  wanted  and  were  entitled  to  the 
completest  statement  of  the  case.  There  was  no  call  for 
anything  more  from  Mr.  Harrison,  who  had  had  his  last 
word,  and  declared  that  he  should  pursue  the  controversy 
no  further ;  but  there  was  a  need  that  corrections  by  Spen- 
cer should  be  supplied.  He  accordingly  sent  me  the  sub- 
stance of  some  additions  to  be  appended  as  notes,  and 
which  I  inserted  in  their  appropriate  places.  I  deny  the 
wrongfulness  of  this  act,  and  the  ado  that  has  been  made 
over  it  seems  to  me  perfectly  absurd.  Mr.  Spencer  did 
what  it  was  desirable  and  entirely  proper  that  he  should 
do.  He  had  not  only  the  right  but  it  was  his  duty  to  de- 
fend himself  against  the  erroneous  representations  of  Mr. 
Harrison ;  and  I  insist  that,  if  any  apology  was  due  either 
way,  it  was  from  Mr.  Harrison  to  Spencer  for  making  the 
misstatements,  rather  than  from  Spencer  to  Harrison  for 
correcting  them. 

Mr.  Spencer,  as  will  be  seen,  prints  two  paragraphs 
from  a  private  letter  of  mine  giving  reasons  which  induced 
him  to  favour  the  American  reprint,  and  Mr.  Harrison  char- 
acterizes them  as  chiefly  "  inventions."  I  had  said,  "  Har- 
rison is  coming  over  to  lecture  in  this  country/'  and  Mr. 
Harrison  says  he  never  thought  of  it.  I  wrote  carelessly ; 
but  my  meaning  was,  that  he  is  expected  to  come,  and  in 
this  there  was  no  "invention."  It  had  been  talked  about, 
and  there  was  nothing  unlikely  in  it.  The  coming  of  emi- 
nent Englishmen  to  this  country  to  lecture  is  certainly  no 
unusual  thing.  Mr.  Harrison  is  a  lecturer,  a  man  of  ideas 
which  he  is  interested  in  propagating,  and  is  reputed  to 
have  means  and  leisure.  He  has  many  admirers  in  the 


Concerning  the  Suppressed  Book.  581 

United  States,  and  a  reputation  which  would  be  certain  to 
secure  him  good  audiences.  As  it  turns  out,  "  the  wish 
was  father  to  the  thought,"  but  the  rumour  was  not  im- 
probable. I  should  have  referred  to  it  as  a  contingency, 
and  I  simply  meant  that  it  might  be  worth  taking  into 
account,  with  reference  to  the  publication  of  the  contro- 
versy. 

Mr.  Harrison  says  the  idea  that  there  was  any  danger 
of  republication  in  this  country  by  his  friends  rested  also 
upon  pure  "  invention."  But  I  did  not  say  this.  I  wrote 
to  Spencer,  "  There  is  danger  that  it  will  be  done  by  others, 
and  if  that  should  occur  it  would  be  construed  as  a  triumph 
of  the  Harrison  party."  Mr.  Spencer's  interpretation  of  it 
was,  "  1  had  to  choose  between  republication  by  my  Ameri- 
can friends  or  republication  by  your  friends,  with  the  im- 
plication that  1  was  averse  to  it."  And  Mr.  Spencer  was 
here  substantially  right.  Although  there  may  have  been  no 
apprehension  that  Mr.  Harrison's  avowed  friends  would 
move  in  reprinting  the  book,  yet  if  it  had  been  done  by  any- 
body but  the  Appletons,  the  inevitable  inference  would  have 
been  that  their  author  had  been  so  badly  handled  that  they 
declined  to  back  him.  The  book  was  looked  for  from  Mr. 
Spencer's  publishers,  they  had  printed  it  in  their  magazine, 
they  issued  all  his  works,  there  was  a  demand  for  the  vol- 
ume which  was  certain  to  make  it  a  safe  business  venture, 
and  it  represented  two  sides  or  schools  of  thought :  if,  un- 
der all  these  circumstances,  D.  Appleton  &  Co.  had  left  the 
work  for  others  to  publish,  the  certain  construction  would 
have  been  that  the  book  was  abandoned  to  the  party  op- 
posed to  Mr.  Spencer.  This  is  the  aspect  of  the  case  which 
he  had  to  meet,  and  it  is  not  at  all  affected  by  Mr.  Harri- 
son's statement  that  his  friends  had  no  idea  of  printing  the 
controversy. 

Another  explanation  seems  here  called  for.  Those  who 
will  refer  to  the  second  paragraph  of  my  letter,  quoted  by 


582  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

Mr.  Spencer,  will  observe  both  an  indecision  and  a  confu- 
sion in  the  statement.  This  was  due  not  only  to  hasty 
writing  but  to  some  perplexity  in  my  own  mind.  I  said, 
"  If  I  thought  no  one  else  would  print  the  correspondence  " 
(controversy),  "  I  should  be  in  favour  of  our  not  doing  it  "  ; 
and  I  then  go  on  to  give  reasons  for  this  conclusion,  end- 
ing with  the  remark,  "  On  the  whole,  it  may  be  politic  to 
reprint."  Apparently  this  indifference  to  publication  is 
inconsistent  with  the  various  reasons  I  have  given  for 
strongly  desiring  it.  But  there  was  a  consideration  not 
mentioned  in  the  letter  which  weighed  much  with  me  at  the 
time.  I  was  in  very  bad  health,  and  was  urged  by  physicians 
and  friends  to  go  South  without  delay.  It  seemed  therefore 
to  be  impracticable,  if  not  impossible,  for  me  to  give  that 
attention  to  the  editing  and  publication  of  the  volume 
which  were  prompted  by  my  interest  in  it.  But  it  will  be 
noticed  that,  under  this  conflict  of  inclinations,  though  I 
gave  some  trivial  reasons  for  non-publication,  the  conclusion 
favours  reprinting.  This  shows  the  predominant  feeling, 
even  in  a  time  of  depression  ;  and  I  must  say,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  that,  though  referring  the  matter  as  I  did  in  a  hur- 
ried note  to  Mr.  Spencer,  I  had  not  for  a  moment  really 
relinquished  the  purpose  of  bringing  out  the  book.  This 
explanation  is  necessary,  that  the  responsibility  may  rest 
where  it  properly  belongs.  Mr.  Harrison  lays  stress  upon 
Spencer's  agency  in  "  promoting  and  assisting  "  in  the  pro- 
duction of  "  a  volume  for  which  you  are  responsible,  and 
which  you  have  authorized  and  adopt."  But  though  Mr. 
Spencer  chose  to  take  the  responsibility  because  he  had 
assented  to  it,  and  furnished  some  notes  for  it,  yet  it  was 
neither  by  his  suggestion,  procurement,  nor  desire  that  the 
book  was  issued ;  and  truth  requires  me  here  to  say  that,  if 
he  had  discouraged  or  even  opposed  it,  the  book  would 
probably  have  been  reprinted  by  D.  Appleton  &  Co.  all  the 
same.  Mr.  Spencer  had,  in  reality,  very  little  to  do  with 


Concerning  the  Suppressed  Book.  583 

the  edition.  For  the  Introduction,  the  bad  taste  with 
which  the  notes  were  embellished,  and  the  newspaper  quo- 
tation describing  the  doings  in  a  branch  of  the  positivist 
church  in  London  which  Mr.  Harrison  does  not  like,  he  is 
not  to  be  held  to  account. 

For  his  offence  in  correcting  some  injurious  misrepre- 
sentations in  a  controversial  volume  published  for  the  use 
of  a  people  three  thousand  miles  away,  the  London  Times 
declares  that  Mr.  Spencer  has  made  the  amende  honorable 
by  destroying  the  book :  and  this  is  the  general  English 
view.  The  equally  general  American  view  is,  that  this  ex- 
treme'proceeding  was  ridiculous,  that  it  benefited  nobody, 
and  gratuitously  deprived  many  readers  in  this  country  of 
a  valuable  work  on  an  important  subject.  It  is,  at  any 
rate,  desirable  that  the  responsibility  for  this  result  should 
be  fixed  where  it  justly  belongs.  Mr.  Spencer  made  two 
proposals  to  Harrison  looking  to  the  preservation  of  the 
work,  both  of  which  were  absolutely  fair,  but  neither  of 
which  was  accepted.  Mr.  Spencer  would  have  been  justi- 
fied in  making  a  stand  upon  either  of  these  propositions, 
and  refusing  further  concessions ;  but  Mr.  Harrison's  re- 
jection of  his  overtures  left  the  matter  in  so  unsatisfactory 
a  shape  that  nothing  remained  for  Mr.  Spencer  but  to  cut 
the  knot  by  ordering  the  book  to  be  suppressed. 


APPENDIX    A. 


ANCESTRY. 

SAMUEL  YOUMANS,  the  great-great-grandfather  of  E.  L. 
Youmans,  was  of  English  descent,  and  was  born  on  Long 
Island  about  1700.  He  was  a  wheelwright.  He  moved 
from  Long  Island  to  Fishkill-on-the-Hudson,  in  Dutchess 
County,  about  1720.  He  had  two  sons,  John  and  Anthony, 
who  were  farmers,  living  in  Dutchess  County  till  their  father 
was  an  old  man.  When,  about  i77o-*75,  the  cheap  land  on 
the  west  side  of  the  Hudson  below  Albany  was  opened  to 
emigrants,  these  men  migrated  with  their  growing  families, 
taking  with  them  their  aged  father,  and  settled  at  Coey- 
mans  upon  "lease  land."  The  land  along  the  Hudson 
was  mostly  owned  by  a  few  Dutchmen,  who  held  it  by 
letters  patent  from  the  King  of  Holland.  Only  in  this 
region  did  feudalism  ever  get  a  foothold  in  our  country, 
and  the  last  vestige  of  it  disappeared  half  a  century  ago  in 
a  civil  conflict  known  as  the  anti-rent  war.  Each  of  these 
Dutch  landlords  made  his  own  terms  with  settlers  inde- 
pendently of  the  others,  and  the  business  shrewdness  of  a 
man  was  shown  as  much  in  the  choosing  of  his  landlord  as 
in  the  choosing  of  his  land.  John  Youmans  took  up  two 
hundred  acres  of  heavily  timbered  land,  for  which  he 
agreed  to  pay  what  in  the  end  proved  a  ruinous  rent;  but 
five  years  were  given  free  of  rent  for  clearing  the  land  and 
getting  ready  for  cropping. 

(585) 


586  Edward  Livingston    Youmans. 

Jeremiah,  the  second  son  of  John  Youmans,  in  the  year 
1791,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  married  Margaret  Vincent, 
the  fifth  child  of  Levi  Vincent,  a  resident  of  Coeymans,  and 
the  young  couple  began  their  married  life  upon  a  portion 
of  the  paternal  two  hundred  acres,  to  which  more  were 
added  from  adjacent  new  land  belonging  to  the  same  land- 
lord. Here  Vincent  Youmans,  their  second  son  and  the 
father  of  E.  L.  Youmans,  was  born  in  1794.  Here  his 
mother,  Margaret  Vincent  Youmans,  died  in  1801,  leaving 
six  little  children ;  here  Samuel  Youmans  died  at  a  great 
age  in  1797,  and  John  Youmans  a  few  years  later.  Vin- 
cent Youmans  distinctly  remembered  his  great-grandfather, 
whom  he  saw  daily  in  the  early  years  of  his  life.  At  the 
death  of  his  mother,  when  he  was  seven  years  old,  Vincent 
went  to  live  with  his  mother's  parents — was  chosen  from 
the  little  flock,  no  doubt,  because  of  his  name.  He  always 
spoke  of  their  place  as  "  home,"  but  it  was  only  a  mile 
away  from  his  father's  house,  where  he  was  a  daily  visitor. 

Nothing  certain  is  known  of  the  origin  of  Samuel  You- 
mans, but  it  is  not  improbable  that  his  father  or  grand- 
father were  among  the  early  colonists  of  New  England. 
There  were  Yeamans,  Yeomans,  and  Youmans  in  and  about 
Boston,  Ipswich,  and  New  Haven  in  i633-'39~'5o,  and 
emigration  to  Long  Island  from  Massachusetts  and  Con- 
necticut colonies  began  before  1650.  The  various  spellings 
of  the  name  are,  of  course,  not  the  slightest  bar  to  the  sup- 
position that  they  all  descended  from  the  same  stock,  for 
everywhere  before  the  nineteenth  century  there  was  extreme 
carelessness  about  the  spelling  of  names,  as,  indeed,  about 
spelling  in  general.  The  same  name  will  be  found  spelled 
in  one  way  in  the  body  of  an  old  local  history  and  will  be 
referred  to  by  another  spelling  in  the  index.  But,  whether 
four  or  six  generations  of  Americanization  be  allowed, 
Samuel  Youmans  and  his  descendants  seem  to  have  been 
perfectly  assimilated  to  the  American  type  of  character. 


Appendix  A.  587 

They  were  tough,  athletic  men,  of  tireless  industry,  self- 
reliant,  self-asserting,  apt  to  be  on  the  aggressive  and  un- 
popular side  of  public  questions  both  in  religion  and  poli- 
tics, ultra-democratic,  despising  people  who  boasted  of  their 
ancestry  or  claimed  distinction  on  any  ground  but  that  of 
personal  merit.  To  explain  the  great  hardiness  of  Vincent 
Youmans,  his  fervour  of  conviction,  the  honour  he  paid  to 
labour,  his  contempt  of  frivolities,  and  the  gloomy  severity 
of  his  religious  experience,  seven  generations  of  hard- 
working pioneer  Puritan  ancestors  are  none  too  many. 

The  maternal  great-grandfather  of  Vincent  Youmans 
was  Leonard  Vincent.  There  is  on  record  at  White  Plains, 
Westchester  County,  a  deed  of  twenty-six  acres  of  land 
given  to  Leonard  Vincent  in  1713  by  Charles  Vincent 
"  with  the  consent  of  his  parents."  This  land  is  now  with- 
in the  limits  of  New  York  city.  Leonard  Vincent  married 
a  Dutch  girl  of  the  neighbourhood  and  had  four  sons — 
John,  Levi,  Leonard,  and  Samuel.  Levi,  the  second  son, 
married  into  a  family  of  Dutchess  County  Quakers  named 
Hoxie.  His  wife  was  the  daughter  of  Zebulon  Hoxie,  a 
blacksmith,  and  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  that  county, 
coming  from  Stonington  and  settling  in  the  town  of  Beek- 
man,  where  some  of  his  descendants  are  still  living. 

Levi  Vincent  lived  for  several  years  after  his  marriage 
in  Dutchess  County,  and  migrated  from  there  to  Coeymans 
at  nearly  the  same  time  as  the  Youmanses.  He  had  a  large 
family,  was  a  skilful  blacksmith,  and  also  managed  his 
own  farm.  He  was  careful  in  business,  and  his  family  was 
reared  in  more  comfort  than  was  usual  to  the  time  and 
place.  He  was  a  man  of  sound  judgment,  much  respected 
by  his  neighbours,  and  often  chosen  by  them  to  settle  their 
disputes  and  difficulties.  He  had  a  cheerful  temper  and 
friendly  manners,  was  humorous,  and  fond  of  a  laugh.  It 
was  said  by  Edward's  father  and  uncles  that  in  character 
and  disposition  as  well  as  in  certain  physical  traits  he  re- 


588  Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 

sembled  this  ancestor.  As  Vincent  Youmans  was  reared 
in  his  family,  we  have  from  him  more  details  of  Vincent 
than  of  Youmans  history.  Levi  Vincent  wore  the  garb, 
attended  the  meetings,  and  held  to  the  principles  of  the 
Quaker  society,  of  which  his  wife  was  a  member,  but  he 
never  joined  them  nor  used  their  form  of  speech.  He  had 
six  sons,  tall,  finely  developed  men.  The  Vincents  were 
usually  large  men,  standing  six  feet  in  their  stockings,  and 
in  this  respect  the  Hoxies  were  like  them.  There  was  a 
double  marriage  between  Zebulon  Hoxie's  family  and  that 
of  Leonard  Vincent.  The  Vincents  were  Tories.  And 
here  authentic  early  history  of  these  Vincent  and  Hoxie 
families  ends. 

But  there  is  a  field  of  conjecture  that  seems  plausible. 
Vincents  and  Hoxies  are  both  Cape  Cod  families.  The 
Hoxies  were  first  heard  of  in  this  country  at  Sandwich 
about  the  time  the  Quakers  appeared  there,  and  were 
themselves  Quakers.  Their  relations  with  the  Vincents  in 
town  concerns  is  matter  of  history,  as  follows:  There  was 
a  family  of  Vincents  living  at  Plymouth  in  1639,  and  that 
very  year  John  Vincent  was  one  of  a  committee  of  ten  men 
sent  from  Plymouth  to  found  the  town  of  Sandwich  in 
Cape  Cod.  He  was  also  one  of  the  two  first  representa- 
tives of  the  town  of  Sandwich  in  1639  at  the  Colonial  As- 
sembly in  New  Plymouth.  Later  he  was  placed  on  a  com- 
mittee appointed  to  lay  out  the  true  boundaries  of  lands  in 
Sandwich,  and  Ludovic  and  Edward  Hoxie  were  among 
the  owners  whose  lands  the  committee  adjusted.  It  seems 
fair  to  infer  from  this  that  John  Vincent  was  a  resident  of 
Sandwich;  that  these  Vincents  and  Hoxies  knew  each 
other  and  were  neighbours.  The  Vincents  were  freemen 
and  of  the  dominant  faith.  Both  the  families  of  Vincents 
and  Hoxies  that  we  know  of  in  later  times  opposed  our 
revolutionary  war  with  England— the  Hoxies  on  religious 
grounds,  and  the  Vincents  from  loyalty  to  the  Crown. 


Appendix  A.  589 

Now,  the  first  Ludovic  Hoxie  mentioned  above  had  six 
sons ;  four  of  them  bore  the  names  respectively  of  Joseph, 
Peleg,  Abram,  and  Ludovic.  And  the  great-grandfather  of 
Vincent  Youmans — the  Dutchess  County  Quaker  and  black- 
smith from  Stonington — Zebulon  Hoxie,  had  four  sons — 
Joseph,  Abram,  Peleg,  and  Ludovic,  repetitions  of  the  Cape 
Cod  Hoxie  family  names.  This  hardly  seems  accidental. 
Zebulon  Hoxie  might  easily  have  been  a  grandson  of  the 
first  Ludovic  Hoxie,  and  Stonington  in  those  days  of  travel 
by  water  was  on  the  route  of  migration  from  Cape  Cod  to 
Dutchess  County.  Besides,  the  double  marriage  that  oc- 
curred between  the  two  families  from  which  E.  L.  Youmans 
descended,  when  they  were  separated  many  miles  by  bad 
roads  and  primeval  forests,  indicates  family  intimacies  in 
earlier  times.  There  are  other  grounds  for  this  conjecture, 
but  it  scarcely  seems  worth  while  to  present  them  here. 
All  that  is  known  of  the  maternal  ancestry  of  Catherine 
Scofield  Youmans  is  given  on  page  5.  Her  father,  Gideon 
Scofield,  was  born  in  Connecticut.  His  mother  was  a  Hoyt, 
and  the  Hoyts  and  Scofields  from  which  he  was  descended 
were  among  the  oldest  and  staunchest  families  of  that  fa- 
mous stronghold  of  tempered  Puritanism. 


APPENDIX    B. 


LIST  OF    WRITINGS. 

A  CLASS-BOOK  OF  CHEMISTRY.  In  which  the  principles 
of  the  science  are  familiarly  explained  and  applied  to  the 
arts,  agriculture,  physiology,  dietetics,  ventilation,  and  the 
most  important  phenomena  of  Nature.  Designed  for  the 
use  of  academies  and  schools  and  for  popular  reading,  by 
Edward  L.  Youmans,  author  of  A  New  Chart  of  Chemistry. 

"  To  know  that  which  before  us  lies  in  daily  life  is  the 
prime  wisdom." — Milton. 

New  York:  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  200  Broadway,  1851. 
A  new  edition,  entirely  rewritten,  with  over  three  hundred 
illustrations,  in  1863.  Rewritten  and  revised,  with  many 
new  illustrations,  in  1875. 

ALCOHOL  AND  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  MAN.  Being  a 
popular  scientific  account  of  the  chemical  properties  of 
alcohol  and  its  leading  effects  upon  the  healthy  human 
constitution.  Illustrated  by  a  beautifully  colored  chart. 
D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  200  Broadway,  1854.  Fowler  &  Wells, 
131  Nassau  Street,  1854. 

CHEMICAL  ATLAS;  or,  The  Chemistry  of  Familiar  Ob- 
jects. Exhibiting  the  general  principles  of  the  science  in 
a  series  of  beautifully  colored  diagrams,  and  accompanied 
by  explanatory  essays,  embracing  the  latest  views  of  the 
subjects  illustrated.  Designed  for  the  use  of  students  and 
pupils  in  all  schools  where  chemistry  is  taught.  By 

(590) 


Appendix  B.  591 

Edward  L.  Youmans.  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  346  and  348 
Broadway,  1856. 

THE  HANDBOOK  OF  HOUSEHOLD  SCIENCE.  A  popular 
account  of  heat,  light,  air,  aliment,  and  cleansing,  in  their 
scientific  principles  and  domestic  applications.  With  numer- 
ous illustrative  diagrams.  Adapted  for  academies,  semina- 
ries, and  schools.  By  Edward  L.  Youmans.  D.  Appleton 
&  Co.,  346  and  348  Broadway,  1857. 

THE  CORRELATION  AND  CONSERVATION  OF  FORCES.  A 
series  of  expositions  by  Prof.  Grove,  Prof.  Helmholtz,  Dr. 
Mayer,  Dr.  Faraday,  Prof.  Liebig,  and  Dr.  Carpenter. 
With  an  introduction  and  brief  biographical  notices  of  the 
chief  promoters  of  the  new  views.  By  Edward  L.  You- 
mans. D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  90,  92,  and  94  Grand  Street, 
1864. 

THE  CULTURE  DEMANDED  BY  MODERN  LIFE.  A  series 
of  addresses  and  arguments  on  the  claims  of  scientific 
education.  By  Profs.  Tyndall,  Henfrey,  Huxley,  Paget, 
Whewell,  Faraday,  Liebig,  Draper,  De  Morgan ;  Drs. 
Barnard,  Hodgson,  Carpenter,  Hooker,  Acland,  Forbes; 
Herbert  Spencer,  Sir  John  Herschel,  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  Dr. 
Seguin,  Mr.  Mill,  etc.  With  an  introduction  on  Mental 
Discipline  in  Education,  by  E.  L.  Youmans.  D.  Appleton 
&  Co.,  549  and  551  Broadway,  1867. 


INDEX. 


AGASSIZ,  Prof.,  57. 

Agricultural  chemistry,  41,  93-94. 

Alcohol,  writes  upon,  92. 

Alger,  Rev.  W.  R.,  163. 

Ancient  Philosophy  and  Modern  Sci- 
ence lectures,  73. 

Antioch  College,  211. 

Antisell,  Dr.,  61. 

Antislavery,  30,  51. 

Appletons,  59,  66,  68,  in,  154 ;  Mr. 
W.  H.  Appleton,  113,  141,  154, 
184,  276. 

Appletons'  Journal,  255,  258-259, 
267. 

Arithmetical  text-book,  63-64. 

Beecher,  H.  W.,  201,  321,  377,  379. 
Biological   science,    study   of,    429 ; 

as  discipline,  432. 
Blindness,  40-72. 
Brain   as  organ  of  mind,  411-414, 

455,  462-469  ;  contempt  for,  478. 
Burdsall,  J.  R.,  62. 

Cambridge,  visit  to,  137. 
Carpenter,  Dr.,  550. 
Charges  against  P.  S.  M.,  552. 
Chemical  Atlas,  93. 
Chemical  Chart,  62. 
Chemical  studies,  beginning  of,  25  ; 
interest  in  agricultural  chemistry, 
26 


41,  50,  54  ;  experiments  in,  55  ;  at- 
tends Draper's  lectures,  64. 

Chemical  text-book,  63-70. 

Class-Book  of  Chemistry,  63-70  ; 
new  edition  sale  of,  145. 

Comte,  152,  166,  173,  182,  233,  235, 

290,  337,  515. 

Concerning  the  suppressed  book, 
562. 

Conflict  between  thought  and  insti- 
tutions, 399. 

Cook,  Mr.  Ransom,  41  ;  Mrs.,  45,  49. 

Copyright,  281,  366,  374,  375  ;  inter- 
national, 571. 

Correlation  of  Forces,  publication  of, 

147- 

Cosmic  philosophy,  290-291. 
Culture,   aims  of,   418  ;  waste   and 

economy   in,  420  ;  incentives   to, 

445- 
Culture  demanded  by  Modern  Life, 

publication  of,  221 ;   introduction 

to,  399. 
Cyclopaedia  of   Household  Science, 

322. 

Darwin,  Charles,  276  ;  relation  of,  to 

Spencer,  104,  378,  541. 
Darwins,  the,  276. 
Dawson,  Dr.,  498. 
Delafield,  Dr.,  42. 

(593) 


594 


Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 


Discipline,  mental,  399  ;  of  memory, 
403  ;  of  judgment,  404  ;  of  gram- 
mar study,  404-407  ;  of  mathe- 
matics, 407-409  ;  meaning  of,  410  ; 
vicarious,  417  ;  of  science  studies, 
423  ;  of  language  studies,  441. 

District  school,  the,  21-26. 

Education  Spencer's  essays  on,  pub- 
lishers of,  no. 

Eliot,  George,  127,  340,  366. 

Elliott,  Dr.,  44. 

Essays,  Spencer's,  114, 115, 148,  154- 
157,  160,  168,  176,  512-525. 

Evolution,  teacher  of,  74-76 ;  doc- 
trine of,  104  ;  labours  for,  148  ;  re- 
ligious aspects  of,  496,  497  ;  rise 
of  the  idea  of,  512-517. 

Eye  Infirmary,  experience  of,  43. 

First  Principles,  528-533. 

Fiske,    John,    164,    166,    363,    365, 

378. 

Flanders,  Benjamin,  46. 
Free  Religious  Association,  address 

to,  321. 

Good,  Uncle,  22. 
Grammar,  the  study  of,  404-407. 
Greeley,  Horace,  45,  300. 
Gundy,  Joe,  15. 

Habit,  physiological,  meaning  of, 
459- 

Handbook  of  Household  Science, 
94. 

Handwriting,  50,  91. 

Hawkins,  Waterhouse,  251. 

Harrison,  Frederic,  387,  562. 

Health,  345,  367-369,  383. 

History  of  progress  in  arts  and  in- 
vention begun,  58. 


Holmes,  O.  W.,  letters  of,  146,  315. 
Huxley,  T.  H.,  129  ;  visits  America, 

333  ;  lectures  here,  335,  546. 
Human  Nature,  Scientific  Study  of, 

lecture,  223-227,  451. 

Illogical  Geology,  essay  on,  524. 
Insane,  treatment  of,  471. 
Instructor,  the  function  of,  482. 
International  Scientific  Series,  266- 

293,  577- 
Inventional  Geometry,  332. 

Judgment,  discipline  of,  404. 
Ketcham,  James,  49,  52. 

Language,  study  of,  440. 

Lecturing,  72. 

Letters  of  H.  S.  to  E.  L.  Y.,  first, 
108  ;  his  view  of  our  national 
prospects  in  1863,  151  ;  on 
article  in  New  Englander,  152  ; 
about  his  new  volume  of  essays, 
172  ;  Comte  and  positivism,  173  ; 
classification  of  the  sciences,  175  ; 
further  explanations  of,  and  of 
Social  Statics,  180 ;  reply  to  Min- 
turn,  216  ;  on  title  of  Philosophy, 
233  ;  dedication  to  his  American 
friends,  261  ;  retrospect  and  pros- 
pects, 304  ;  advice  to  E.  L.  Y. 
concerning  Monthly,  314 ;  con- 
cerning economy  of  effort,  324; 
on  address  of  E.  L.  Y.  to  Liberal 
Club,  325  ;  growth  of  the  idea  of 
evolution  in  his  own  mind,  327  ; 
on  work-drunkenness,  331  ;  in- 
vites E.  L.  Y.  to  go  to  Riviera, 
347  ;  speaks  of  coming  to  Ameri- 
ca, 370  ;  more  about  it,  373  ;  on 
international  copyright,  375. 


Index. 


595 


Letters  of  E.  L.  Y.  while  lecturing, 
81-91,  243-248  ;  first  one  to  Spen- 
cer, 106 ;  about  publication  of  Edu- 
cation, 112;  of  the  Spencers  at 
Derby,  117 ;  first  impressions  of 
London,  119;  visit  to  Glasgow, 
121 ;  Lewes,  Mrs.,  127,  340,  366  ; 
dines  at  Gloster  Square,  meets 
J.  D.  Morell,  130 ;  of  Kew  Gar- 
dens, 136  ;  of  Cambridge,  137  ;  on 
state  of  book  business  in  1863, 
142 ;  on  draft  riots,  143-145  ;  on 
state  of  country,  148  ;  on  publica- 
tion of  Essays  and  other  matters, 
154  ;  account  of  N.  E.  trip,  162 ; 
more  about  essays,  168  ;  issue  of, 
on  Progress,  175  ;  letters  to  family 
in  1865,  186-198  ;  to  Fiske,  202  ; 
of  Ripley  and  the  Tribune,  206  ; 
from  Antioch  College,  211  ;  visit 
to  Wales,  218  ;  of  lecture  at  Col- 
lege of  Preceptors,  224 ;  to  S.  on 
state  of  business,  228 ;  Mill's  St.  An- 
drew's address,  236  ;  about  books, 
266  ;  to  his  mother  on  his  fiftieth 
birthday,  269  ;  letters  of  1871,  271- 
292  ;  from  Paris,  285  ;  from  Berlin, 
286-289  J  to  a  contributor  to  P.  S. 
M.,  310 ;  from  a  contributor  to 
P.  S.  M.,  311  ;  letters  of  1877, 
337-340 ;  to  a  niece  just  settled, 
341 ;  on  the  state  of  business  in 
January,  1878,  342-344 ;  decides 
to  go  to  Riviera  with  H.  S.,  348  ; 
reaching  London,  350-351  ;  from 
Riviera,  351-360;  of  health,  367- 
369  ;  articles  on  political  institu- 
tions, 373,  373  ;  fractures  his  wrist, 
382  ;  health,  383  ;  last  letter  of, 

391- 

Liberty,  Mill's,  150. 
Lecturer,  as  a,  78-81. 


Man  studied  by  the  scientific  meth- 
od, 452,  454 ;  by  the  method  of 
tradition,  453. 

Manning,  Mr.  R.  H.,  94,  105,  114, 
260. 

Marriage,  116. 

Masquerade  of  the  Elements,  a  lec- 
ture, 73. 

Mathematics  in  education,  407-409, 

431- 

McCosh,  Dr.,  496. 

Meeting  of  British  Sci.  Ass.,  138. 

Memory,  403,  459,  468  ;  discipline 
of,  403  ;  meaning  of  discipline  of, 
410. 

Mental  Gymnastics,  417. 

Mental  limitations,  474. 

Mental  states  due  to  states  of  blood, 
465  ;  to  nervous  system,  466. 

Mill,  John  Stuart,  132,  204  ;  inaugu- 
ral address,  236-238,  425-429, 
432-435,  439,  450,  547-550- 

Minturn,  R.  B.,  letter  of,  215. 

Morell,  Dr.  J.  D.,  130. 

Moulton's  attack  on  Spencer,  329. 

Nature,  meaning  of,  488. 

Philosophical  Series,  Spencer's,  105- 
no,  113-115,  156,  199,  261-265, 
290,  528-537- 

Physiology,  evolution  of,  455-458. 

Popular  Science  Monthly,  295  ;  start- 
ing of,  296-301  ;  success  of,  302  ; 
after  a  year  and  a  half,  313  ;  aim 
of,  306-310  ;  charges  against,  552. 

Popularization  of  science,  works  for, 
101. 

Psychology,  Spencer's,  105,  516. 

Reflex  action,  457. 
Repetition,  value  of,  414-416. 


59<5 


Edward  Livingston  Youmans. 


Rest,  importance  of,  476. 
Ripley,  George,  153,  207. 

Science,  meaning  of,  486,  492  ;  in- 
centives it  gives,  445  ;  its  bracing 
quality,  447 ;  religious  work  of, 
491-494. 

Science  primers,  332. 

Science  studies,  423  ;  order  of,  424  ; 
as  information,  425  ;  of  human  na- 
ture, 451. 

Scientific  lecturing,  72. 

Sister  reads  for  him,  42,  50,  54  ;  joins 
him  in  N.  Y.,  56  ;  chemical  stud- 
ies, 61. 

Social  Statics,  republication  of,  1 14, 
141,  176. 

Sociology,  study  of,  295. 

Specimen  of  handwriting,  92. 

Spencer,  Herbert,  visit  to  America, 
376;  and  the  doctrine  of  evolution, 
502,  511 ;  works  of,  504  ;  health, 
527  ;  rights  as  a  thinker,  538  ;  re- 
ligious teachings,  554,  557  ;  appli- 
cation to  government,  551  ;  con- 
troversy with  Harrison,  562. 

Staten  Island,  life  at,  45. 

Suppi'essed  book,  concerning,  562. 

Synthetic  philosophy,  233,  290,  291. 

Taine,  503,  505. 

Teachers'  office,  483. 

Tenney,  E.  P.,  Appletons'  reader, 
judges  of  manuscript  of  Class- 
Book,  66. 

Theology  the  adversary  of  science, 
494,  500. 

Tyndall,  Prof.,  visit  to  this  country, 
317  ;  letters  of,  317,  319,  320, 
366. 

Unconscious  mental  action,  460. 


Vestiges  of  Creation,  42,  57. 
Vicarious  discipline,  417. 
Voluntary  activity,  limits  of,  488. 

War  times,  116,  135,  141-145,  178, 

185. 

Wheeler,  J.  M.,  letter,  35-40. 
Wheelers,  the,  14-17. 
Whitman,  Walt,  46. 

Youmans,  Catherine  Scofield,  4-6. 

Youmans,  Earle,  61,  323. 

Youmans,  E.  L.,  popular  sympathies 
of,  4  ;  birth,  4-6  ;  childhood,  9-13  ; 
religious  experience,  9,  29-33  ; 
freethinkers,  18  ;  leaves  Greenfield, 
19  ;  generosity,  26  ;  circulating  li- 
brary, 27  ;  inflammation  of  the 
eyes,  28  ;  powers  of  persuasion, 
33  ;  handiness,  34  ;  goes  to  Gal- 
way  Academy,  35-40;  treatment 
by  Ballston  oculist,  40  ;  blindness, 
40  ;  reading,  41,  42,  50  ;  relapses, 
42,  45,  59  J  goes  to  N.  Y.  Eye  In- 
firmary, 42  ;  treated  by  Dr.  Elli- 
ott, 44 ;  life  at  Mrs.  Cook's,  44- 

45  ;  removes  to  Mrs.  Chipman's, 

46  ;  Mr.  Flanders,  46,  47 ;  expo- 
sures, 48  ;  the  Ketchams,  49  ;  self- 
supporting,  50  ;  handwriting,  50 ; 
literary    work,    51 ;   conversation, 
52  ;    power    of    exposition,     52  ; 
studies  mnemonics,  53  ;  sister  joins 
him  in  N.  Y.,  56  ;  attends  Agas- 
siz's  lectures,  57  ;  historical  work 
undertaken,   58 ;    call    at    Apple- 
tons',  59  ;  history  forestalled,  59  ; 
deep  discouragement,  60  ;  Chemi- 
cal Chart,  62  ;  text-book  of  arith- 
metic,  63  ;  Class-Book  of  Chem- 
istry, 63-70  ;  forestalled,  64  ;  be- 
gins lecturing,   72  ;  as  a  lecturer, 


Index. 


597 


78-81  ;  letters  written  when  lec- 
turing, 81-92  ;  studies  the  physio- 
logical action  of  alcohol,  92  ;  first 
acquaintance  with  Herbert  Spen- 
cer, 105  ;  writes  to  him,  106  ;  re- 
lations with  Appletons,  in  ;  they 
publish  Spencer's  Education,  and 
other  works,  in;  E.  L.  Y.'s  la- 
bours for  their  dissemination,  115  ; 
marriage,  116 ;  voyage  in  Great 
Eastern,  116  ;  visits  Derby,  117  ; 
meets  H.  S.,  121  ;  visits  Cam- 
bridge, 137;  rewrites  Chemistry, 
143  ;  publishes  Correlation  of 
Forces,  147  ;  labours  for  the  diffu- 
sion of  modern  views,  148  ;  meets 
Fiske,  164  ;  second  visit  to  Eng- 
land, 185  ;  accepts  professorship 


at  Antioch,  199  ;  threatened  failure 
of  Spencer's  serial  publication — 
labours  to  prevent,  199  ;  Antioch 
College,  211  ;  third  visit  to  Eng- 
land, 221  ;  fourth  visit  to  England, 
255  ;  fifth  visit  to  England,  267  ; 
International  Scientific  Series,  267, 
273-281,  284,  293  ;  as  an  editor, 
302  ;  health,  321,  322,  367  ;  lec- 
ture before  Liberal  Club,  322  ; 
rewrites  Class-Book  of  Chemistry, 
333  ;  visits  the  Riviera,  345-349  ; 
goes  to  Thomasville,  385  ;  trouble 
with  Harrison,  387 ;  last  days, 
395- 

Youmans,  Vincent,  4-6,  9-13. 

Youmans,  William  Jay,  93, 192  ;  goes 
to  England,  188. 


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saiuv  uan 


